The Cheer and Dance Team held a mini clinic at Green Level on Saturday, September 6th, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Kids from the Triangle area, aged from Kindergarten to 8th grade, attended and learned various cheers and dances.
This past Friday at the football game, the teams were accompanied by future Gators. A total of 85 kids participated, excluding the parents and friends who came to support the minis.
Freshman and member of the Cheer Team, Avery Mertz says, “We had a wide variety of younger kids and older kids, so it was difficult to find a common balance of teaching too easy versus too hard.”
On Friday, 6 days later, they were able to support the gators from the sidelines. During the game, they demonstrated what they had learned and cheered on the football team.
The cost to attend was $75, which included a t-shirt, bows, poms, pizza, snacks, and, of course, an experience on the sidelines with the gators. The money that was paid went towards the Cheer and Dance Teams’ bid to Nationals at the beginning of February.
Mertz says, “When we compete, we use the money to help with plane tickets, which cost $1,000. It helps people who can’t afford that.”
They are traveling to Orlando, Florida, to compete in UCA and UDA’s national competition.
Although it was a very exciting event, many people attended the football game, considering it was also 8th-grade night for the Marching Band. The concession stands ran out of food and had to order more throughout the game.
Mertz says that even though there were so many kids, there shouldn’t be a maximum number of kids allowed to participate because that defeats the purpose of a fundraiser.
“We could split it up so that the Cheers mini clinic is at one football game and the Dance is at a different one to help lessen the crowd.” Says Mertz.
Overall, the Cheer and Dance’s annual mini clinic was a success, and the kids took away a valuable experience from the girls. They raised a good deal of money to help support their national fund and plan to host one next year.
