Eric Bichao was born and raised in Gloucester, MA. He attended Gloucester High School and the Pingree School, where he lettered in ice hockey and baseball at both schools, including representing USA in an international high school ice hockey tournament. While looking to continue playing sports in college, Eric attended UMass Dartmouth majoring in Computer Engineering. At UMass Dartmouth, Eric gave up both sports to try his hand at cheerleading.
Eric cheered for UMass Dartmouth from 1993 to 1997, captaining his last two years. During his time there, UMass Dartmouth was the New England Small Coed Cheerleading Champions three years straight from 1995 to 1997. In the spring of 1996, Eric received the prestigious Student-Athlete Award for earning Chancellor's List honors (3.82 GPA in seven classes) while being a member of the cheerleading squad. Eric was also a member of the New England Cheerleaders Association Performance Team from 1995 to 1999.
Eric also took on the task of redesigning UMass Dartmouth's entire athletic website. Since 1996, Eric has volunteered his time to update information for all the Corsair teams. He has also created the most popular web directory listing for college cheerleading squads.
While still a student at UMass Dartmouth, Eric would volunteer his time to assist his college coach, Lisa Cabral, with her High School squad at Fairhaven, MA. During his time there from 1995-1997, Fairhaven High School was the South Coast Conference champions both years, and went on to become the Massachusetts State Champions in 1996.
After finishing college, Eric pursued his coaching career in his hometown of Gloucester. In 1998, Eric became a Co-Head Coach for Gloucester High School and choreographed their routine. That year, Gloucester won the Northeast Conference competition after finishing last in its ten-team league the year prior.
Since then, Gloucester has won numerous competitions, including additional Conference Championships, and a Massachusetts State Championship in 2000. In 2001, Gloucester participated at the Cheerleaders of America National Championships in Jacksonville, FL placing fourth.
Eric continues to coach at Gloucester High School, and was a volunteer until the fall of 2001 when he was hired as the cheerleading advisor. As the advisor of the entire cheerleading program, Eric oversees the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Junior High School squads. He also acts as a gymnastics and fitness instructor for the program, along with doing his squads choreography and musical editing. In 2001, Eric was recognized for all his hard work and dedication by receiving "Coach of the Year Award" at a local competition.
Eager to get back on the mat, Eric joined the East Elite Open All-Star team in October of 2001 where he has been cheering ever since.
Last Updated On: 9/1/06An Official UMass Dartmouth Web Page/Publication. © 2008 Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts.
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