At Power Cheer Gym, we are often asked, “Is it too late” for my daughter/son to start cheerleading? The answer is, “Almost never.” And here are a few scenarios:
1. We missed the tryouts — can we still find a place on a team and register?
Answer: YES – absolutely. We hold ‘tryouts’ in the spring and again in September as a general call to get athletes interested, enrolled and started on teams and classes, but the reality is that we place athletes on teams ALL year long. Tryouts are actually just a group evaluation session and we will always arrange a time to fit in individuals who contact us throughout the summer.
2. My daughter/son is no longer involved in gymnastics. Is it too late for her to start cheerleading?
Answer: No – cheerleading is often the next sport or follow-up sport for kids who have left gymnastics (and acro-dance). The best part is that their gym training will carry over very well, and they almost always enter cheerleading with well-developed skills, strength and body awareness. We loooove ex-gymnasts, and they loooove the team atmosphere.
3. I am hoping to cheer at university, but my high school doesn’t have a cheerleading team. Is it too late to start, and what are my chances?
Answer – Probably very good – but you need to start now. The reality is that there are very few high school cheer teams left in Ontario (and almost none in the London region). A high school student can absolutely begin their cheerleading even at the age of 14-16 and, given the right environment, they can reasonably expect to eventually earn a spot on a collegiate squad.
The Power Cheer Gym is home to three of the strongest collegiate cheer programs in the nation (Western University Coed and All-Girl, and the Fanshawe College Black Falcons). And of the close to 80 team members, well over three-quarters of them did not start cheerleading until they were in high school. Similarly, of the 27 members of the Canadian National Coed team that won a bronze medal at the World Championships in April, only six members had cheered before they were in high school. (Note: this team trained exclusively at the Power Cheer Gym and had 10 members from the Western squad). Clearly, it is never too late to start cheerleading!
The Power Cheer Gym offers low-cost recreational ‘Cheer 101’ summer classes, as well as competitive and recreational half-year teams (ages 5 to 17). Visit our website for details, or drop in to the gym any weekday evening in the summer!
Submitted by Power Cheer Gym
