Provincial competition attracts packed house at WCHS
Katie May
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
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It's rising up from across the border, attracting girls as young as four. Competitive cheerleading, wildly popular in the U.S., is spreading across Canada and gaining even more momentum in southern Alberta, where young gymnasts are clamouring for pyramids, pom-poms and cheer-minded teammates.
More than 700 cheerleaders, judges and spectators packed into the gym at Winston Churchill High School Saturday afternoon for the first annual Twist and Flip cheerleading competition. Seventeen teams of cheerleaders ranging in age from four to 17 came from across the province to show off their moves in school team and all-star team divisions. The winners advance to the Alberta Cheerleading Association's upcoming meet at the West Edmonton Mall.
The event, which organizers estimated would bring in $70,000 for Lethbridge's local economy, is only the second cheerleading competition the city has ever seen.
Last year, G.S. Lakie Middle School hosted a competition for junior high school teams and earned a provincial win for its own team.
"It's drummed up some real excitement within the south," said Jaclyn Landry, executive director of the Alberta Cheerleading Association, who explained that competitive cheerleading is growing faster in southern Alberta than in the rest of the province.
"It's quite influenced by the growth in the U.S. There's also world-level competition that's happening now, so that's getting people excited and motivated throughout the entire sport. It's trickling down to our school program level," Landry said.
"And there's a higher profile as well. We're starting to see it in the media portrayed as an athletic sport, as opposed to some of the stereotypical things that we've seen in past, so for school administrators to recognize that there is some athleticism behind it and to provide funding and resources has been really phenomenal to help those teams get off the ground."
Clouds of hairspray perfumed the gym air as dozens of girls primped for the competition, applying blue sparkly eyeshadow, curling and teasing each others' hair, lacing up their bright white runners and doing warm-up stretches. But as soon as they got out on the mat and heard the pop music pumping through speakers in front of the crowd, the cheerleaders were all business - with big smiles.
"My girls train all year. This is what they do it for - to perform and show off what they can do," said Kelli Wymer, head coach of Lethbridge's only all-star cheerleading team, the West Wind Cheer Force Elite.
Wymer grew up cheering and competing in gymnastics in Virginia before coming to Lethbridge. She said cheerleading can be a real self-esteem booster to girls who may be used to individual sports such as gymnastics.
"We get to do cute hair, cute makeup, and I think they feel good about themselves when they're in uniform and with a team that they can go show off with," she said. "It's a self-esteem thing for a lot of them, too. They feel like it's worth something to them to be a cheerleader.
Cheerleader Ashley Lane, a student at Chinook High School, said it's still scary to compete, but she loves it and practices six hours every week.
"You get friendship, and you trust a lot more people because when you throw people high in the air, they have to trust you to catch them," she said.
"It's really fun. In the end it pays off if you win."