{"id":2732,"date":"2021-03-24T23:34:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T04:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=2732"},"modified":"2021-03-24T23:39:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T04:39:55","slug":"dancing-without-appreciation-the-bradley-bravettes-feel-they-deserve-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2021\/03\/24\/dancing-without-appreciation-the-bradley-bravettes-feel-they-deserve-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Dancing Without Appreciation: The Bradley Bravettes Feel They Deserve Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bradley Bravettes Dance Team has played a role on campus for generations, yet they remain unfunded and unrecognized as a sport by the university.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While this year\u2019s season looked different than most, the team usually performs at all of the men\u2019s home basketball games and dedicates around 10 hours per week to dance during basketball season. This includes practice three times a week, games and time spent choreographing the dances and mixing music outside of those times.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bravettes are considered a student led organization by Bradley, meaning that there are no coaches, and the dance team is responsible for organizing everything necessary for themselves. They elect two captains each year as a team, and those captains lead the team through all games, practices and performances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The cheerleading team, which is considered a sport by Bradley, also practices three times a week with a coach to direct them and act as a liaison between them and the university. Additionally, its members receive scholarships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we wanted new uniforms or anything we had to fundraise for it, and we pay for our own jazz shoes, team jackets and backpacks,\u201d former Bravettes captain Allie Pesche said. \u201cExcept we don\u2019t get scholarships or free textbooks like other sports do\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost every team in the Missouri Valley Conference has a dance team accompany them and perform during time-outs and breaks at the tournament. The Bravettes have attended the MVC tournament to support the men\u2019s team for many years, fundraising their way through hotel fees and other expenses.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, the athletic department has refunded the dance team for the cost of gas to and from Peoria and Saint Louis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDue to the fact that the MVC tournament is in early March, there is no telling what the weather will be. Our team has walked in the snow, rain and cold temperatures from the hotel to the arena,\u201d current captain Mary Hamilton said. \u201cAlthough there have been times that the band let us on their bus, we had to stand in the aisles and pack three to four team members in a row meant for two\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most universities that have dance teams provide the team with coaches, designated practice areas, transportation, multiple uniforms and additional scholarships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Bradley does provide all 15 approved sports with funding and scholarships. This has left many former and current dance team members wondering: why isn\u2019t the dance team considered a sport?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I think since it\u2019s so small of a program, the school does not have the capacity to support teams that aren’t considered revenue teams,\u201d Bravettes advisor Ali Hogan said. \u201cWe support the athletic teams, but don’t directly bring money into the program. The issue is that if we were supported financially like other D1 university dance teams, we would be able to recruit into the program\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bravettes advisors have been in contact with marketing directors from Bradley\u2019s athletic department over the years, each time being told that there is no room in the budget to support the dance team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team is hopeful of financial support from the university in the future, but plans to continue fundraising in order to keep the Bravettes alive on Bradley\u2019s campus for years to come.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt would just be nice for the team to get more respect,\u201d Pesche said. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bradley Bravettes Dance Team has played a role on campus for generations, yet they remain unfunded and unrecognized as a sport by the university.\u00a0 While this year\u2019s season looked different than most, the team usually performs at all of the men\u2019s home basketball games and dedicates around 10 hours per week to dance during basketball season. This includes practice three times a week, games and time spent choreographing the dances and mixing music outside of those times. The Bravettes are considered a student led organization by Bradley, meaning that there are no coaches, and the dance team is responsible for organizing everything necessary for themselves. They elect two captains each year as a team, and those captains lead the team through all games, practices and performances.\u00a0 The cheerleading team, which is considered a sport by Bradley, also practices three times a week with a coach to direct them and act as a liaison between them and the university. Additionally, its members receive scholarships.\u00a0 \u201cIf we wanted new uniforms or anything we had to fundraise for it, and we pay for our own jazz shoes, team jackets and backpacks,\u201d former Bravettes captain Allie Pesche said. \u201cExcept we don\u2019t get scholarships […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":318,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[249],"class_list":["post-2732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-bucom360"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/318"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2732"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2746,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2732\/revisions\/2746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}