Less than a week after they defended their national championship cheerleading titles, members of the Hawaii Pacific University cheerleading teams were told on Wednesday that they will no longer compete on the national level.

Instead, the members of HPU’s small and large coed cheerleading and dance teams will be restricted to cheering for HPU’s basketball and volleyball teams, in addition to cheering at community events in Honolulu, such as marathons and charity walks.

On Friday, HPU’s large coed cheerleading team won its 10th Division II national championship in Daytona, Fla., at what is billed as the largest college cheer and dance championship in the world. HPU’s small coed cheerleading team also won its sixth Division II championship in Daytona.

So Wednesday’s announcement from HPU "was like a shock to the gut," said Corey Rickett, who moved from New York City to attend HPU on a cheerleading scholarship.

"It was like getting the wind knocked out of you, to know that everything you’ve worked hard for so many years is just gone," Rickett said. "It feels like it’s almost been a waste. We’ve done a lot for the university, not just going to nationals but doing community service and always putting a good face forward for the university."

Members of the separate cheerleading and dance teams who are affected by Wednesday’s announcement plan to protest the administration’s decision and ask people to sign a petition beginning at noon Friday on Fort Street Mall in front of HPU’s downtown campus, said HPU student body president Tim Lussier.

University officials interrupted the teams’ practices Wednesday morning to tell the nearly 60 dancers and cheerleaders that the cheerleading and dance programs are being restructured "as part of the overall HPU strategic planning process, which is intended to bring all university activities into alignment for the future health, financial well-being and sustainability of the university," according to a statement from HPU.

But Lussier, who has been working with HPU administrators on the strategic planning process and meets with new HPU President Geoffrey Bannister every month, said no one ever mentioned that the programs’ unspecified costs were too high.

And Lussier said it’s "disingenuous" to link the dance and cheerleading programs to the strategic planning process because it isn’t finished.

"We’ve had a positive relationship with the new president, so this is quite a shock," Lussier said. "We want to push back and make sure the administration knows how valuable these student teams are to the community."

University officials said the cheer and dance programs combined make up 20 percent of the athletic budget, which fields 12 Division II teams, but they did not provide a dollar figure.

In a statement, HPU officials said they are "continuing scholarship assistance for returning cheerleaders and dancers so that no current program participants will be disadvantaged by the change. The squads will not compete as teams at national cheer and dance competitions, though members will be able to take part in individual competition, if they so choose."

Both Rickett and Ashley Faulkner, one of the captains of the small coed cheerleading team, said they have always raised more money to compete on the national level whenever they needed.

"But they did not tell us how much it costs," said Faulkner, who left Georgia for HPU because of her cheerleading scholarship.

Faulkner said she’s happy to cheer for HPU’s teams, but it’s no comparison to competing for HPU on the national level in front of thousands of fans and competitors each year in Florida.

"Not anything against HPU, but 99 percent of the cheerleaders are here to compete with the team at nationals," Faulkner said.

When HPU administrators broke the news Wednesday at practice, Faulkner said, "there were tears, there was anger, there was heartbreak. It was really sad."