Local kids could soon have a different sport to take up, thanks to the initiative of a new Bonnyville resident.
When Melissa Kirkendall learned her family would be moving to town from Red Deer, she noticed there was no established cheerleading team in the area. So, to allow her daughter to continue in the sport, she decided to start her own.
“I came into the cheerleading world six years ago when my daughter started up, she was about two and a half years old in a competitive program. I've grown to love the sport and everything about it,” said Kirkendall. “I started to take my coaching courses when we realized that we were moving and there actually wasn't a program out here in Bonnyville.”
Operating under the Alberta Cheerleading Association, cheer teams contain boys and girls between the ages of three and 18. The athletes are divided up into age categories starting with the tiny division, three to six-year-olds, and going up to the top levels which can include 12 to 18-year-olds. Ideally, to compete in the small division, each team should have 18 to 19 kids.
Practicing once or twice a week, cheer athletes typically compete in three to six competitions per year.
“For this year, we're going to stick pretty locally, we'll probably go to Edmonton. The Premier Gym in Red Deer, they've travelled to Kentucky, Las Vegas, this year they're in Orlando. They travel internationally once a year, which is something we'd like to consider if the program gets big enough here,” said Kirkendall.
Regardless of a child's age or skill level, Kirkendall explained it's not hard to get into cheerleading. Teams range from level one where they just learn the basics of cartwheels, walkovers, and easy routines, to level five, which is more in line with what you'd see at high level competitions with moves such as back-tucks and advanced tumbling in a more complex routine.
“It's a great sport. Not only does it have your athletic side, but also all of your team bonding. It's just a really great sport for children to get involved with and learn about.”
Kirkendall added, “It's not really a sport you can do without the whole team involved. If you've got two kids missing then you can't do your pyramid and your stunts can't go. There's a lot of team bonding involved and it's great for the girls. My daughter, her best friends are from the cheer gym. It's just a whole team sport, there's a spot for everybody.”
While the local team will accept athletes up to 18-years-old, cheerleading is a life-long sport. For those that enjoy it and want to pursue it long-term, the majority of universities and colleges have international open teams and older athletes can compete in summits and worlds. Cheerleading has also been granted a provisional Olympic sport, meaning national cheer teams could possibly be headed to the Olympics within the next few years.
Locally, Kirkendall is hoping to start cheer in Bonnyville in September and run it for the length of the school-year for 2017-18. Should it be popular enough, the plan is to run the team on the typical cheerleading schedule, which starts with tryouts in May and goes until April the following year.
Watching her daughter progress in cheerleading, Kirkendall hopes she can provide the same opportunity to kids in the Bonnyville area who haven't had the chance to join cheer.
“My heart is full sometimes just talking and thinking about it. She's grown into such a strong and confident athlete. She started out as just this little two-year-old running around doing all of the cute little things, to now you watch her run and tumble across the floor. All of the amazing friendships she's created through cheerleading, they're just unbreakable.”
To gauge community interest and answer questions about the sport, Kirkendall, who will be coaching the team, is hosting an open house at Duclos School on Thursday, May 11 starting at 6:30 p.m. Anyone interested in getting more information is invited to attend.
