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Spirited tradition continues" Future Cheerleaders camp enjoys long history of success
By Rusty Murry
Herald-Tribune
It's impossible to know how many girls have been through the Nevada High School Future Cheerleader's Clinic in the past 30 years, but it's safe to say that many local girls and a handful of boys have learned how to cheer and what it means to be cheerleader during the annual clinic.
Coach Pam Earnest said she did not know a total number but there were "210 in our best year;" and last year, 158 girls attended the one-day clinic.
Earnest has been coaching the clinic for 13 years and said, "It is a wonderful program. It promotes enthusiasm for the girls to be active in their school."
Many of the girls who attend the clinic go on to become cheerleaders at the high school level; some of them go on to cheer for universities like Pittsburg State University, according to Earnest. She said several of her students have cheered in college and some of them have gotten active in the United Cheer Association and started and conducted training clinics of their own. Many, many of them end up cheering in Nevada.
Gabby Gire is one of them. She is currently a sophomore at the Nevada High School and is in her second year as a cheerleader. Gire thinks all of the girls on the current squad participated in the clinic.
Gire took part in the clinic when she was "7 or 8," years old -- she couldn't remember for sure. She did know that she "didn't used to like cheerleaders, but that camp kind of changed my mind --now I love it," she said.
Gire was an athlete before becoming a cheerleader; she played basketball, and admits she had some misconceptions about being a cheerleader.
"I didn't think they did anything that hard," she said. Now she knows she was wrong.
She was "surprised at how hard they work at cheering," but she looks forward to it because it is an all year activity.
Gire's mother Monty said that Gabby had fun and learned a lot during the one- day clinic.
"I think she loved it," Gire said. "I think they all remembered it and they had a lot of fun while they were at it."
Gabby still has fun at it. She and the other cheerleaders have been meeting recently to work on the skills they are going to teach at the clinic this year.
Other girls who have participated in the clinic and went on to be cheerleaders are still involved, too. Sara Parrack was a Nevada High School cheerleader when Gire went through the clinic as a little girl. Now she helps her mother, Pam Earnest, coach the clinic and cheerleaders.
Parrack said the clinic "encouraged me to be a cheerleader when I got into high school."
She enjoyed "just the fun of it and being on the field."
Parrack said it's great for all the girls, because "it gives them someone to look up to, and we tell the high school girls that too -- that they are a role model."
The 2012 Future Cheerleader's Clinic will be held at the Nevada High School on Saturday, Aug, 25, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is open to any girl or boy wishing to participate.
Pre-registration is allowed but not required. Participants can pre-register at the Osage Prairie YMCA or during any of the school's upcoming open house events. Participants also may register on the day of the event.
The fee for the clinic is $25 per person. Participants will receive a T-shirt and group photograph. Lunch will be provided. Earnest recommended that students wear shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes. She also recommended that those attending get a good night's rest on Friday and eat a good breakfast because the day's activities are strenuous.