Augustana University will soon be home to one of the first hockey cheer programs in South Dakota. Under the direction of Riley Block, Augustana Hockey Cheer will officially be added to the university’s list of club sports offerings in Fall 2026.
“It’s what it sounds like — combining cheer and figure skating for hockey cheerleading purposes,” said Block. “The team cheers in the stands during games; they’re part of energizing the crowd; they’re also on the ice during the starting lineup; and, they’ll perform occasionally during one of the period breaks.”
Augustana Hockey Cheer will support its NCAA Division I Viking Hockey Team and potentially, its club hockey teams during home games at Midco Arena. Block, also the director of the Sioux Falls Figure Skating Club (SFFSC), said she has had a lot of inquiries about hockey cheer since becoming the inaugural Augustana Club Figure Skating head coach in Spring 2024.
“I’m excited for more opportunities. I’m excited for more attention on figure skating, and essentially, skating after high school. I don’t want skaters anywhere to wonder if ‘I’m going to work this hard through high school and then I’m going to hang it up because I don’t have a lot of options or opportunities to continue to do that,’” said Block. “Augustana Hockey is obviously picking up a lot of love and attention, so I think now's a good time to continue to build on that.”
Unlike other programs that Block has seen, Augustana Hockey Cheer would allow its athletes to participate in the stands, on the ice or both. They could also be a part of the hockey cheer and club figure skating programs simultaneously. Together, the club figure skating and hockey cheer programs would give its student-athletes approximately 8+ hours of ice time each week, plus time away from the rink to work on lifts and stunts.
Augustana Hockey Cheer is looking to recruit 8-10 members in its first year. Block, who more than doubled the AU Club Figure Skating Team in its second year, already has at least a half-dozen skaters who are interested in its newest endeavor. One of them is Nicole Zimiga ‘27.
Zimiga, who is triple majoring in economics, strategic communications & leadership and Spanish on the pre-law track, was a cheerleader and dancer at Stevens High School in Rapid City, South Dakota, and coached both hockey and figure skating for beginners. When she got to Augustana, she joined the Viking Spirit Squad as a cheerleader, but has since focused on her studies and figure skating. Just this past year, she and Block started the SFFSC Hockey Cheer Program — a group of middle and high schoolers who support the Sioux Falls Flyers Varsity Team — thought to be the first in the state.
“My sophomore year, I told Riley, ‘Hey, we have a hockey team. Wouldn't it be cool if there was a cheerleading team for that?’ And she made it happen because that’s the kind of coach she is,” Zimiga said.
And Zimiga said she doesn’t mind the idea of being the first to try something — a trailblazer, if you will. She first joined club figure skating at Augustana when it was led by students, helped start the first of its kind cheer program in the state and even helped establish the Augustana Rydell School of Business honor society — the Eta Kappa chapter of Sigma Iota Epsilon (SIE).
“I feel like I’m doing something at Augustana that will be here long after I’m gone,” noted Zimiga. “There are young girls who come to Flyers games and want to interact with the cheerleaders. Getting to do this with the community and make hockey games fun for those who aren’t necessarily hockey fans will be really rewarding. I can’t wait for my friends in college to get to experience this, too!”
Add the excitement they hope it will bring to hockey at Midco Arena … that’s just icing on the cake.
“If you are at a hockey game, it’s hard not to pay attention if someone’s right in front of you encouraging you to get excited,” said Zimiga.
Students interested in Augustana Hockey Cheer should visit augie.edu/HockeyCheer. For information on other Augustana Club Sports opportunities, visit augie.edu/ClubSports.