Dozens of eager young girls buzz with energy as they scramble into formation to practice myriads of cheers, chants and stunts. Screams and giggles announce the 23rd annual cheer clinic, from Sept. 13-17, as the girls prepared their routines for half time of the Sept. 17 football game.
Melissa Bump, ’05, a varsity cheer captain, has participated in the clinic for three years and loves to train the possible future cheerleaders.
“I love that the kids love cheer and are excited about it [the clinic],” Bump said. “I dislike that we can’t do everything the kids want and it’s sometimes hard to get them to understand.”
Christie Belden, ’06, goes into the clinic with an optimistic outlook.
“I’m just going out there with a good attitude,” Belden said. “And, I’m hoping to be able to encourage the girls and have a good turnout.”
Belden, also in her third year of cheer clinics, is pleased to see Katie Mendenhall, cheer coach, take on the leadership role this year for the clinic.
“Past years have been a little crazy and a little less organized,” Belden said. “Coach Katie stepped it up this year and made it very organized and simple for everyone.”
Mendenhall has taken over for Eunie McEntee, former cheer coach who ran the clinic for 22 years. Mendenhall, who has participated in the cheer clinic for 12 years, has not found it too challenging to manage the clinic.
“It hasn’t been difficult without Mrs. Mac,” Mendenhall said. “I do miss her though. We would usually laugh during the whole thing, remembering past experiences.”
Mendenhall hopes to combine a love for cheer and knowledge of the sport into the clinic.
“My expectations for this years’ cheer clinic is for all the kids to have fun while they are learning the basics of cheerleading,” Mendenhall said. “Past clinics have been pretty crazy! My goal this year was to streamline all the routines and make the transitions from station to station more organized.”
Structure is the key for this years’ clinic. Teryn Pruett, ’05, a varsity captain, hopes to teach the girls, ranging from kindergarten to 6th grade, the different aspects of cheerleading in an orderly fashion.
“This year is going to be a blast,” Pruett said. “This year we are a lot more organized so the kids will be able to learn more and have fun.”
Pruett fondly remembers past clinics, but also looks forward to Mendenhall’s fresh ideas.
“The past cheer clinics were fun,” Pruett said. “But, now that we have Katie, she has a lot of new ideas, so we will be able to teach new stuff.”
The trainees leave the clinic educated and enthused about cheerleading.
“The kids just absolutely love it,” Belden said. “They love to be able to cheer with girls older than them and have someone to look up to.”
Pruett also enjoys earning the young girls’ respect.
“I like the fact that they look up to me,” Pruett said. “I remember doing cheer clinic when I was younger and I thought the cheer leaders were so cool. Now, years later, I’m the one teaching, not learning.”
Mendenhall enjoys seeing the spark of affection for cheerleading increase in the girls.
“I love to see these young girls developing a love for cheerleading,” Mendenhall said. “To me, that is simply the best and hopefully they continue that so when the reach high school, they will be cheering for me on JV or varsity.”
For more information on the cheer clinic, visit www.thefeather.com or contact Mendenhall at [email protected].
