Sixty kids ranging from preschool through sixth grade learning a new dance in two hours might sound like chaos, but instead this chaos was turned into fun during the 2024 Yutan cheer camp held on Oct. 11.
“I think it went really well for both the elementary kids and the high schoolers,” head cheer coach Megan Encarnacion said. “It was awesome to see how excited everyone was during the camp.”
This was the second annual cheerleading camp for ages preschool through sixth grade, and there were several key changes to the camp from last year.
“This year, we focused on icebreakers, a new cheer and a dance, which was performed at halftime,” senior Libby Winn said.
The icebreaker this year was a game called “Mingle.” The girls would walk around the gym and when someone said stop, they would get into groups of four. In these groups, they would talk about their favorite things, their interests and their hobbies.
“It was very fun and the kids really wanted to be in a group with a cheerleader. There were these fifth graders that would follow me and I would try to run away. I thought that part was fun,” freshman Kinsley Smith said.
After the icebreaker, the elementary girls were split into small groups based on their group color. They went with their assigned cheerleaders and were taught the cheer before coming together in a large group to practice the cheer to music. The music was played on a big speaker in the gym. They practiced both the cheer and the dance together during the camp.
“It takes a lot of patience to teach the third and fourth graders because they all learn at their own pace, and you gotta take the time to teach at their pace with them so they understand,” junior Lexi Bisaillon said.
Once the girls learned the cheer, they focused on learning a dance to the song “Try Everything” by Shakira. But performing and teaching the dance were two different things.
“The coaches searched for easy dances that could be performed by all ages, found one and then we put our own spin on it. But even though we put our own spin on it, we still had to keep the cheer camp kids in mind because they all learn at different speeds and levels,” Winn said.
This was even more challenging for those cheerleaders with younger students.
“I had preschool and kindergarten. I think since they were so young, getting them to focus and getting them to do the movements was hard, but after talking to them and getting to know them, it allowed them to be more calm and comfortable with me,” junior Mackenzie Govier said.
After all the work during the camp, the elementary girls had some time at home before regathering at halftime of the football game to perform the cheer and dance.
“The dance went a lot better than I expected it to. I was impressed with the little kids and also the high schoolers. How they led the team in the dance was very impressive,” Encarnacion said.
Seeing the final dance made all the challenges of the day worth it for both the elementary students and the cheerleaders.
“When I see the parents recording the kids, I’m proud of all the effort that the cheerleaders put in, and I wouldn’t be able to put on these kinds of camps without the cheerleaders and their hard work!” said Encarnacion. “The girls deserve the praise because they are building those positive relationships with the future Yutan cheerleaders.”
