The Chatham Phoenix Cheer team is bringing some new life to a former Wallaceburg school.
Nicole Okrucky, the head coach of the team, told the Sydenham Current they were put in contact with the superintendent taking care of the former D.A. Gordon Public School recently, and they inquired about moving the team in.
“We met with the owner, talked it over, and decided to take D.A. Gordon as our new home,” Okrucky said.
To start, the team is practicing at D.A. every Monday and Thursday night from 6 p.m to 8 p.m.
“It’s great,” Okrucky said.
“It’s nice to have a nice private area to practice in. It eliminates distractions because cheerleading is really dangerous.”
Okrucky said the team formed in Chatham in September of 2015, hence the name – Chatham Phoenix Cheer.
They moved to Wallaceburg in June of 2016 and into D.A. Gordon this spring.
“We normally run an off-season training program for June, July and August which is a cheaper rate than the competitive program itself,” she said.
“The off-season, we focus more on fitness and back to basics. Just the basics of stunt building, tumbling and putting routines together. Then from September until May, we get into our actual competitive season, where we focus strictly on routines for competition.”
Okrucky said the team performed a routine during half-time of a Hamilton Tiger Cats game last October and also performed a routine at the half time of a London Lightning basketball game last month.
Okrucky, who is a Level 3 certified coach, said the team has been in one competition so far this season and they have another one coming up this month at Canada’s Wonderland , which will cap off their season.
“Next year we are hoping to go to as many as five different competitions as the program starts growing,” she said.
“We have 16 girls right now that are going to be competing in May. Right now we have two coaches and we have some parents that are interested in getting involved with started to learn how to coach cheerleading. So we are going to bring them in for next season as coaches in training.”
Okrucky said the girls on the team are currently in the competing range, from age 10 to 17, but the team is open for girls or boys from five-years-old to 18.
Cost during the competitive season is $90 per month, plus competition fees.
In the off-season, cost is cut in half to $45 per month for June, July and August.
For more information, visit them online at www.chathamphoenixcheer.com, on Facebook, or by sending an email to info@chathamphoenixcheer.com.
– Photo credit: Chatham Phoenix Cheer
