After Total Sports Development launched in mid-May, the athletic skills training organization quickly prioritized cheerleading as one of its programs with six different clinics and activities in June.
With the first month of cheer classes in the rearview mirror, Amber Ogle, TSD co-founder and director of cheer, said the inaugural month with the organization went really well. Classes in June included cheer skills, cheer fit, advanced tumbling, beginner tumbling, the Slay All Day camp and more.
“The classes had quite a few people in them, which was great. Our Slay All Day was incredible, which was one of my favorite parts of this last month with what’s going on with Total Sports Cheer,” Ogle said. “Every single participant there learned something new, which was amazing. I got the privilege to stand outside once the class was over, and when the kids would run out they were jumping up and down, talking about all the new things they learned. It was pretty cool to see that even the advanced participants learned something new.”
Ogle said, so far, turnout for the classes have been good. She added that each class has had at least 10 participants, and the Slay All Day camp “filled up pretty quickly.” TSD Cheer classes in July will begin after July 4.
“The new classes that are coming up here in July are starting to fill up. The camp especially, which is Formation Nation, will teach all cheer skills. That’s starting to fill up as well,” Ogle said. “We’re getting a great response all the way around, not only with the classes they’ve done already, but with people signing up for July’s classes.”
To see the entire list of July cheer activity at TSD, visit the website link TotalSD.org/summer-cheer-classes for more information and to register.
One of the new TSD Cheer events to be introduced in July is the stunt open gym on Saturday, July 6, and Saturday, July 13. Both events will run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
“You can bring your own stunt group or come by yourself. You can pay $10 to learn new stunts or to enhance, perfect, the stunt group that you’re bringing,” Ogle said. “The coaches we have are incredible, so that’s why it’s going so successfully, I believe. They put so much work into it.”
TSD’s cheer coaches include Ogle, Candace Hurd, Maddison Hummel, Kennedy Vileses, Rae-Lyn Hixson and Coral Ogle.
“The growth is through learning new skills,” Amber Ogle said. “The cheer fit is also awesome to watch because they’re huffing and puffing because they’re doing things they’ve never done before, like running the stairs at the high school, and some of the drills that coach Candace (Hurd) has them do — they haven’t done before. I like to watch the strength they’ve gained from the beginning to now.”
For Ogle, providing opportunities for local cheerleaders is important because “cheer brings everyone together.”
She added that there’s already a lack of local opportunities for youth cheerleading locally, and aside from Thurston County Youth Football League cheerleading in the fall, youth cheerleaders and families have to leave the local area for cheer activities.
“I think it’s important to have these classes all year round. We’ll have classes, including competitive cheer and Unified — which also brings the community together and shows a sense of empathy,” Ogle said. “I think it’s great for the kids with the levy failure and not knowing the unpredictable. I think it’s a sense of relief to not only the parents but to the athletes, as well.
“I’m hoping it’ll grow, that’s the goal,” Ogle added. “It’s already starting to grow, and we’re hoping it’s going to be something we can continue to do all year round. We’re renting facilities right now, but once we get our facility up and running, there will be more opportunity with classes and within the cheer world.”
Ogle and TSD are excited about bringing more cheer opportunities to Yelm. She said that with TSD and its branch of sports activities, as long as the organization comes together, all sports in Yelm can grow, and people from outside of the community can experience what “Yelm has to offer in the sports world.”
