Skip to content

Exciting time for Yorkton cheerleading

It’s an exciting time for cheerleading in Yorkton. Yorkton Gridders Cheerleading is giving kids from across the city the chance to learn to cheer. There are two programs run out of Gridder’s Cheerleading.

It’s an exciting time for cheerleading in Yorkton. Yorkton Gridders Cheerleading is giving kids from across the city the chance to learn to cheer.

There are two programs run out of Gridder’s Cheerleading. There is the club program, called All Star, which is open to kids from any school in the city, as well as the Yorkton Regional High School’s cheer team. Gridders Cheerleading has been in operation since 2012, but this past year has brought some big changes and will soon bring them international attention.

The big change for the group is that their practice space is new, and has been in use since Sept. This is the first dedicated cheer practice space in the city, in the past the organization practiced in school gymnasiums and other facilities in partnership with other organizations. The Gridders had chosen to get a dedicated cheer practice space solely because it meant they would have more space and time to practice and develop their skills, explained coach Jennifer Ingham.

“It has allowed us to practice more and pick hours that work for the girls, so they’ve really progressed a lot. They’re doing more advanced stunts than they have in the past, we’ve really seen a lot of growth in the past year.”

Finding a practice space involved meeting the group’s unique needs. All practices are done on a sprung floor for safety reasons, Ingham explained, and that floor is big – 54 feet by 42 feet – with springs underneath and mats on top. The building, behind Brown’s Leisure World, was chosen because of the unique needs that a cheer team has when practicing.

“We need a really big space in order to set that floor up and something with really high ceilings as well, so it’s kind of a unique space that we need. We found kind of the perfect building.”

The practice is going to be important, because the YRHS Gridders squad is about to take on the world. The squad is about to head to Orlando, Fl. to compete in the World Cheerleading Championships from Feb. 7 to 9.  The team received a bid last March to compete in the event, and are preparing for the big week, with plenty of practice as well as adjustments to the routine to increase the difficulty level.

“They’re the only team from Saskatchewan to go so we’re pretty excited about that.”

Competing in Orlando is a major opportunity for the team, and Ingham said it’s part of their main goal, which is to help team members continue to grow and improve.

“We want to see them progress, we want to see them learn stuff, we want to see them perform well, and we want to see them go on to other teams as well. When they graduate and they go off to University and they move to Regina or Saskatoon or Edmonton we want them to still be able to participate in cheerleading and carry on. We want to give them that solid base so they can go on to bigger and better things.”

The teams showcased their routines for an important audience on Jan. 26, with parents and loved ones invited to their practice space, packing the house. Ingham described the event as a bit of a dry run before the high pressure atmosphere of a competition.

“It’s a lot of work for two and a half minutes so it’s good to highlight their skills.”

The next competition for the group is in Regina, this weekend, called Icebreaker. It will feature routines from all four cheer teams that are part of the Gridders organization. They will also be heading to Edmonton in March for a competition.