When Christina Dalcourt went home during a recent weekend, she wasn’t looking for a home-cooked meal as much as she was looking for support from her family and friends.

For the past two years Christina has realized her dream of competing at the worlds level in cheerleading and this year is no exception. The Brock University cheerleading team is once again travelling to Walt Disney World Resorts to compete in the UDA/UCA National College Cheerleading & Dance Championship. This competition is one of the most prestigious college cheerleading championships in the country.

“I have been committed to gymnastics and cheerleading my entire life and have dedicated many hours in order to achieve my goal of competing at the worlds-level competition.” said Dalcourt.

She said she couldn’t do it without her large support network of family and friends who have helped her achieve her fundraising goal.

The third-year Brock student is currently studying Neuroscience and spends upwards of 40 hours a week in classes and working on assignments. That’s on top of ten hours of cheer practice.

“Without the support from my family and friends I wouldn’t be able to continue to cheer at Brock University. With the rising costs of competition travel, accommodations and gear, our coach [Tara Savoie] is encouraging each of us to fundraise at least $600.”

To date, the Adopt-an-Athlete fundraising portal has raised over $16,600, with the cheerleading team raising $4,955.

The peer-to-peer fundraising program was custom built for Brock’s Athletics department and the pilot project launched at the end of September. There are 11 teams participating in the pilot, with plans to eventually include all 42 varsity teams and clubs.

Although crowdfunding is not a new fundraising concept, the project is a unique collaboration between the Department of Athletics and the Department of Development and Alumni Relations to ensure teams are able to raise additional funding to offset the costs of competing. All funds raised through this initiative stay within the specific team or club.

Be part of Brock’s Adopt-an-Athlete program here.