New Competitive Cheerleading Team Launches
A local cheerleader is lifted by David Liska, with Edmonton Eskimos cheerleader and Chatham native Cassandra Weisher looking on – Contributed Photo
A mix of dance and gymnastics, competitive cheerleading has been gaining steam across Ontario in recent years.
“We will be starting up Chatham’s first competitive cheerleading club the beginning of July 2015,” says coach Nicole Okrucky, who says the team will be accepting registrations for boys and girls between the ages of 5 to 18.
According to Okrucky, cheerleading is already popular in Chatham with the Chatham-Kent Cougars cheerleading team, as well as various high school teams, but she’s hoping to take the sport of competitive cheerleading to the next step, beyond simply cheering at games.
“Our goal is to take all of those teams and place them together to teach them more advanced skills, and to bring a community of cheerleaders together and work as a team to represent Chatham in the Cheer Expo,” says Okrucky, of connecting Chatham-Kent’s high school teams, and Cougrs squad to build a competitive team.
“Our goal is to not only put in a high performing team into competitions, but we also want to promote community involvement, positive influences, charity volunteering and much more,” continued Okrucky. “We are committed to helping develop a positive self image with all of our cheerleaders, since low self esteem is a common problem among youth, we devote ourselves to be positive influences on our cheerleaders.”
With competitive teams in Sarnia, Windsor, and London already, Okrucky feels it’s time for Chatham to get into competitive cheerleading, and participate in the five competitions annually hosted by Cheer Expo.
The new Chatham Phoenix Cheerleading team has also received notable support from Cassandra Weishar, a flyer for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos cheerling team, as well as Edmonton Eskimos cheerleading coach David Liska.
Although some details are still in the works, the club hopes to begin registration in May, with the organization running out of the Chatham Gymnastics Centre located on Currie Street in Chatham.
For anyone interested in learning more, they’re invited to contact Nicole Okrucky at 519-360-8718, or by emailing inspire@chathamgymnastics.com.