It’s not only football players who will square off at this Saturday’s Vanderbilt vs. Georgia SEC football game. Two sisters will also compete on opposing sidelines.
“Rivalry isn’t just on the football field. Sisters face off from the sidelines this weekend in Nashville," mother Suzanne Hapner McLean said in a Facebook post.
Michael McLean said daughters Mary Kate and Anna Lee McLean grew up as competitive cheerleaders, cheering on high school and All Star teams.
“It’s been exciting,” McLean said. “We’ve been traveling around every weekend. We’re either in Athens or Nashville.”
For the first time this weekend, University of Georgia freshman Mary Kate will be on a rival squad from her sister, Anna Lee, a junior at Vanderbilt University.
Their mom, Suzanne, said she has been envisioning this moment ever since Anna Lee started cheering for Vanderbilt.
"To make this complete would be to have both of them in a cheerleading uniform cheering for an SEC team,” Suzanne said. "It's surreal."
Michael McLean said both sisters are excited to see each other, with a little family-friendly rivalry in the mix.
“They’re sisters, but they’re competitive,” their dad said to 11Alive. “They’ve had a little rivalry themselves growing up.”
So where will Anna Lee and Mary Kate’s parents sit come Saturday?
Michael McLean said the couple gets free tickets in the parents’ section at Vanderbilt, but the pair plans to dress neutral.
“We’re going to wear black and gray,” he said, adding they won’t be wearing either daughters’ team colors.
“The irony is Suzanne and I are Auburn grads…and the girls were raised Auburn fans,” McLean said.
