Western Athletics U16 Takeover place second at Best of the West
The Western Athletics U16 Takeover team recently placed second at the Best of the West Cheerleading and Dance Championships in Moose Jaw.
“They went out there, they did really well in their routine. They fought really hard for it and ended up coming home with a second place. Those girls are just working really hard together and showing a lot of commitment and dedication this season. They’re becoming strong contenders,” said coach Cass Meshke.
The U16 all-star team is comprised of 15 athletes performing a routine that lasts two minutes and 30 seconds.
“They essentially trained from June until January just to learn this routine and then compete from January until the end of March,” said Meshke.
Moose Jaw was their third competition of the season after previous appearances in Lloydminster and in Calgary.
“It wasn’t a super strong routine. We had to re-choreograph everything after getting some judges’ feedback, so it was a little bit of a time crunch for them. This was their first time competing with this newly updated routine. It ended up going better than we could have expected,” said Meshke.
They were judged on everything from stunts, tumbling, and overall as well as showmanship and synchronicity.
“They are very strong in their stunting and we are looking to improve their tumbling, just getting more of that team participation up in the tumbling section,” said Meshke of her Takeover team.
They are training four hours a week, but in January that had about 10 extra practice hours to learn the new routine.
“We try to get them to
learn multiple positions. So in one stunt somebody might be a back spot and then in another a base. Our flyers stay pretty consistent throughout, lots of them will attend extra flyer classes on top of that just to make sure they have that flexibility and strength to be held up in the air.”
The team will next attend the Warman Cheer Classic on March 9-10, a massive competition that attracts 5,000-8,000 people. The following weekend they will compete at Provincials in Saskatoon.
The club will also hold a hometown showcase at the Stockade the following weekend.
Meshke said the popularity of cheer in the province continues to grow, noting the Best of the West had 1,500 athletes in attendance. She said that every major centre in the province
has a cheer team if not multiple teams and that it was recently called the fastest growing sport in Canada.
“It’s just a really inclusive sport. It’s not restrictive to your size or strength. Maybe you’re not fully developed in tumbling, but there’s always a place for you to be a stunter. Another huge draw is it encompasses stunting and then the gymnastics component of it and the dance all in the one,” she explained.
Western Athletics is in the midst of its third season since getting going in 2021. They have 80 competitive athletes and another 30 recreational athletes that are led by six coaches.
The Western Athletics’ U12 All-star Blackout team placed fifth and the U8 All-star Impact were seventh in Moose Jaw.
The U12 Prep Legends,
U8 Prep Prodigies, and U6 Prep Rivals were also in action at the Best of the West.
Meshke has been
coaching for the past 12 years after growing up as a gymnast.
“The competitions are just so exciting.
They are up on stages, there’s smoke machines, there’s professional DJS. The atmosphere is so great.”