Brownstown Central High School cheerleaders taught game day routines to aspiring cheerleaders from grades pre-K to eighth grade in a summer cheer clinic.
It lasted four days earlier this month for two hours each day at the high school’s auxiliary gymnasium.
Attendees learned a cheer, sideline chants, a dance routine, jumps and stunting from high-schoolers. On the last day of the clinic, a showcase was held for family members to watch routines their children had learned.
“We love doing our cheer clinics because we get to work with kids in our community,” said BCHS cheerleading head coach Hannah Tanksley. “Young kids’ faces light up when they get to be alongside the high school girls learning about cheerleading.”
Senior Chesney Johnson said she choreographed routines for the middle-schoolers and “helped keep everything in order.”
Sixth-grader Skylee Murphy said she enjoyed being a part of the clinic and didn’t have a particular favorite part of the week.
“I liked all of it,” she said.
On what the toughest part of the clinic was, third-grader Remy Goshorn said it was learning stunts. That’s when cheerleaders hold each other up for a performance. Pyramids and basket tosses are common stunts in cheerleading.
Tanksley said the high school cheerleaders worked really hard to teach routines at the clinic. She hoped the clinic would strengthen the future of Brownstown cheerleading.
“We want to continue growing that love of cheerleading within our community so that boys and girls will continue the sport,” Tanksley said. “I think the future of our cheer program at BCCSC is bright.”
Another cheer clinic is being planned for the fall during football season. In years past, participants of the clinic have been able show what they learned by cheering alongside the high school cheerleaders for one quarter of a high school football game.