YORKTON — Pom teams with Yorkton’s Gridders Cheerleading program had a great showing at the recent Winter Riot competition in Portage la Prairie, Man.
Coach Jennifer Ingham said three teams attended: the under-8 (U8) Formation, which has 13 members; the U12 End Zone squad, with 24 athletes; and the U16 Touchdown, with seven members. All three teams finished first in their respective age groups.
Soloists and duets also competed, with Jovie Prystupa (U16 Level 5 individual), Quinn Galli and Hanna Hiduk (U12 Level 1 duo), and Madelyn Lorenzo and Elli Stringfellow (U12 Level 2 duo) finishing first.
Ingham noted pom is a form of dance within performance cheerleading.
“Pom is characterized by dancing with pompoms in their hands, and they [the judges] look at the choreography of the routine, the different formations and … obviously the motions that they’re doing with their poms. It’s supposed to be very synchronized with visuals with their pom movements,” said Ingham.
At this stage in the season, Ingham said it’s important for the athletes to know their routines really well and to be able to perform it in a synchronized fashion.
“That was definitely a strength of ours, is that our teams are very well-prepared heading into the weekend,” she said. “But they also had very strong formations and transitions as they moved from one formation to the next. We scored well on our scoresheets.”
The indies and duets performed on Jan. 24, while the teams performed on each of Jan. 24 and 25. It was a Manitoba-run competition but Ingham noted the Gridders were not the only out-of-province club in attendance.
The club held a showcase for parents on Jan. 31 that served as a chance to prepare for the Best of the West competition in Moose Jaw Feb. 6 and 7.
