Hard work pays off for Fire and Ice youth cheer teams at Allstar World Championships
To outsiders, it’s wildly impressive. To those who frequent Fire and Ice Mars cheer and tumbling gym and the competitions its competitive cheer teams attend, it’s just, well, routine.
All six of Fire and Ice’s full-year cheer teams received bids to compete at the Allstar World Championship last month in Orlando, Fla. The event, program head coach Kayla Dempsey said, featured over 1,600 teams. Four of her squads reached finals at that event, with Lady F1ames finishing in the top-10 and Inf3rno winning the competition.
Thomas Evanuik, 13, was among those who competed with the latter. His mother, Kayty Snee, cheered on sidelines in middle school, so when her son decided to try competitive cheer, she was surprised to see the difference in intensity.
“To see these kids be able to pull off the routines that they were able to pull off ... it was something that there’s not a whole lot of words because I feel like, for competitive cheerleading, you have to see it to really understand it,” said Snee, of Gibsonia. “But, I was shocked and kind of blown away and just in awe.
“The things that 8- and 9-year-olds can do, it’s crazy, for sure.”
Lindsay Allanson, of Adams Township, remembers being nervous when her daughters, Luciana, 11, and Mila, 9, and their teams would tweak their routines right before competitions.
“As the years and the seasons have gone on, that’s just common practice now, where I now don’t even think twice about it, just because it’s so instilled in what they do on a week-to-week basis,” Allanson said.
Dempsey, a Portersville Christian graduate and former Fire and Ice cheerleader, began cheering at 6 years old and coaching at 15. The feats have long since become commonplace for her.
“It’s really cool when outside people get to come in and see, like, ‘Wow, these little kids are doing these really hard stunts, and they’re learning these two-and-a-half-minute routines and they’re working as a group to be able to do all of this,’” Dempsey said. “But, for anybody who’s in the community, it’s just normal. ... Learning routine is just another day, and coming to practice is just another day.”
That’s not to say it’s easy.
“It takes a lot of effort to do,” said Thomas, 13, who cheers for both Inf3no and Fire FOURce. “It takes a lot of strength to do the stunts and to tumble. It takes a lot of mental (power) to go out on that stage and compete in front of hundreds of people.
“When we’re learning the routine and stuff and it’s the beginning of the year, it’s pretty hard to remember and do it. But once it gets to competition season ... it’s muscle memory.”
Along with the six full-year teams, which attended eight local or travel competitions, the gym features a pair of half-year prep teams. Those serve as a beginner’s introduction to the sport. There are approximately 120 total cheer athletes in the gym, ranging from ages 5-18. The gym, located in Callery, has athletes mostly from Cranberry Township, Mars and Evans City.
The older athletes in the program enjoy mentoring the younger ones. Seeing the older children inspires younger ones to begin their journey with the gym.
“I started cheer because I watched all the older girls do all the tumbling, and I wanted to do it so bad,” said M1ss Magma cheerleader Emma Delaney, 9, of Evans City.
The athletes progress through tumbling, starting with basics such as cartwheeling and forward rolls, continuing on to stunting.
“When they come in on prep, they’re really learning the foundations of cheerleading, so they’re learning, ‘How do we stunt? How do we hold someone’s foot? And how do we lift them in the air? And how do we do jumps? And how do we tumble on the right counts with each other?’”
The travel program demands a high level of commitment — two practices a a week, plus additional classes. Thomas is a competitive gymnast who spends anywhere from 18-24 hours a week in a gym, his mother said.
“Most people, if you’re letting your kid do elite cheerleading, it’s because your kid loves what they’re doing and because you know it’s gonna help them grow into a better person,” Dempsey said. “And maybe they want to do college cheer, and it’ll help them grow for that. Or maybe they just want to have this team sport aspect.”
And the thrill that comes with hitting a difficult routine on a bright stage, such as the one in Orlando.
“It was really exciting, and my team was literally crying to death,” said Mila, who also cheered for national champion Inf3rno.
“It hits the parents just as much,” Snee said. “I remember looking around and seeing the tears. I mean, the parents were in tears just as much as the athletes were. Because what it comes down to is we work really hard to make the season work, as well, with all of the driving and the planning and the paying.”
