Critically acclaimed actress and βBring It On' star Gabrielle Union publicly recognized Xavier University of Louisiana's cheerleading squad as they took home a national championship. XULA participated in the Advanced Large Coed NAIA competition, finishing with a final score of 91.3375 and defeating runner-up Westcliff by nearly two whole points. Union quote tweeted a response on βX' that highlighted XULA's improbable run.
The real live Clovers!!!!?!?! Why am I crying? For those who aren't familiar with competitive cheer, this is HUGE!! And it's NOT due to a lack of talent. @jadawooten_ let em know! ππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎππΎ #BringItOn https://t.co/jLE6JtHHj2
β Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) April 16, 2024
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XULA was not the only HBCU to win big at the National Cheerleaders Association College Nationals. North Carolina A&T also brought back hardware as the champions of the Intermediate Small Coed Division I group. The Aggies bested Stephen F. Austin with a final score of 97.6412. After falling short in the championships last year, North Carolina A&T secures the victory.
Both XULA and NCAT's wins reminded many of the Clovers, Gabrielle Union's cheerleading squad in the movie βBring It On.' The plots of both the movie and reality are eerily similar: after years of adversity, an all-Black cheerleading team defeats the odds and wins a title.
No cuzβ¦.Y'all need to understand. Black squads NEVER get this far. We are the coaches, dance captains, or choreographers. Usually on a team you see 1 or 2 non-white girls TOPS. 25 yrs after Bring It On it finally happened in real life #cheer #xula #hbcu @itsgabrielleu #ncacheer https://t.co/a7DI3Xi9s7
β π±πΎββοΈβ¨ Blonde Ambixion (@_adrian_sean) April 14, 2024
Xavier's cheer team received a ton of support on social media. That post accrued over 15 thousand likes, 5.3 thousands retweets and quotes, 1.4 thousand bookmarks, an 46 comments. Union's quote tweet garnered an additional six thousand likes and one thousand quotes and retweets.
This is so true!! Weβre always the coaches and choreographers helping other teams get to the top but to see a team full of girls that look like us brings tears to my eyes every single time! I LOVE coaching black girls that want to win!!!!
β Breaking Dawn (@Chelc_Z) April 15, 2024
This literally made me tear up. During high school I was the LONE Black cheerleader on my squad all four years. Seeing something like this was a fever dream. I'm so proud of these athletes and of being an HBCU grad! Let's go!!
β Tish James' Smirk Sami (@NeverNotBlack) April 16, 2024