The 'ultimate' cheering experience
By James Moate Endeavor News

Girls in and around Emporium have more than one reason to cheer these days. Since 2004, they've have had the opportunity to join a competitive cheerleading organization.

Emporium Ultimate Cheer, which isn't school-affiliated, is open to any girl or boy, although no boys have come out for the squad, according to co-founder Tonya Aversa.

The program began after Tonya and her sister, Monica Schloder, moved back to Emporium from Virginia. Aversa had promised her daughters that they could continue to be involved in competition cheerleading. What started as one team for kids in grades two to six expanded to three separate squads. Minis, Youth and Junior/Senior teams span ages five to 18.

Early on, competition cheerleading was relatively unknown. As the interest and community involvement grew, so did the number of competitions.

This year, Ultimate Cheer is scheduled to compete 12 times at places such as St. Marys, DuBois, Ridgway, Kane and Johnsonburg. If all goes well, they will expand to bigger competitions at Penn State, Indiana and Hershey.

Emporium Ultimate Cheer teaches young cheerleaders the importance of working together. Here, the "Mini" squad performs an orchestrated routine for spectators at a recent CCHS wrestling match. James Moate photo

"Our team is different from the high school team because we do not cheer for any sports team," Aversa explained. "Cheerleading IS the sport."

The girls condition and practice once or twice a week. Skills such as stunting and gymnastics complement a dance routine. The more complex and difficult the stunt, the better the scores.

"Competitive cheerleading is recognized as a sport and requires a great deal of strength and agility," Aversa said. "Many don't see it as difficult, but we perform difficult maneuvers such as lifting flyers.

That move involves girls holding others above their heads with their arms fully extended.

"I step in to help sometimes when someone is absent and I often wonder how they do it. By the end of the evening, my arms feel like rubber and the next day it feels like I lifted weights for two hours"

Anyone can join Emporium Ultimate Cheer. This year, three girls from Coudersport are participating.

There are no tryouts and no one is cut from the squad. In addition to fitness and coordination, the girls also benefit from higher selfesteem. There is wide range of skill levels.

Several neighboring communities have adopted competition cheerleading: St. Marys Sparks, Ridgway Cheer Explosion, DuBois G-Force and the DuBois Gems. The organizers appreciate the widespread community support for their non-profit organization.

"Kelly Doud and Marie Spangler have dedicated quite a bit of time to Ultimate Cheer," Aversa said. "They both are coaching the Youth team this year. My husband Rob and Regina Malacarne from Ridgway are helping me to coaching the Junior/Senior team. Geri Lewis and I are coaching the Minis. We also have so many parents that help out that it is hard to name them all."

Parents have been especially helpful with fund-raisers and solicitations to cover travel expenses. Anyone interested in learning more about Ultimate Cheer should contact Tonya Aversa at 486-2431 or euc_ultimate@yahoo.com. The group also has a website: eteamz.com/ emporiumultimatecheer.