Cheerleading Team Draws Out, Tones Up Students with Disabilities - 3/7/2008

Special needs cheerleading squad performs throughout the region By Angie Leventis ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 03/02/2008 COLLINSVILLE — The cheerleading exhibition is about to begin, and the moms are fretting. Some worry their daughters won't make that handspring. Others fiddle with last-minute ponytails and eye-glitter. Linda Black is just grateful her cheerleader can walk. Eleven-year-old Megan Black of Edwardsville suffers from an undiagnosed disorder that limits her ability to move, stand up straight and hear. Her struts are stilted. Her kicks are aided by a cane. Yet, she is on-stage with the rest of her squad, shouting "you can run, but you can't hide" at the audience of families and able-bodied cheerleaders from across the St. Louis region. "We didn't think she would live past 3; we didn't know if she'd be able to walk," Linda Black says. "Now look at her." Megan is a member of the Super Stars, the first special-needs competition cheerleading squad in the St. Louis area, which formed about two years ago. The program is sponsored by Pride of Illinois, a private cheer and tumbling gym in Collinsville. The half-dozen members have a range of mental or physical impairments, from autism to cerebral palsy to growth disorders. The squad was the first act last weekend at Cheer for a Cure, a charity exhibition in Collinsville. This weekend, the Super Stars are performing at the Midwest Open Challenge cheerleading competition in St. Louis. The competition is at America's Center. There are roughly 170 special-needs squads across the country, with seven in Illinois and one in Jefferson City. The first team of its kind was the Kentucky Elite Showcats, formed about eight years ago in Lexington by coaches with special-education backgrounds, said Bill Presson, special-needs committee director of the U.S. All Star Federation for cheer and dance teams. Although disabled cheerleaders already were performing on the sidelines at Special Olympics events, he said competition-style squads are fairly new. The concept spread after the Showcats performed before a crowd of thousands at an international tournament in 2002. Now, most cheerleading conferences feature workshops on how to start special-needs team, and many regular tournaments offer a competitive division for disabled squads. Parents of these cheerleaders in the Metro East praise the therapeutic benefits of the sport, which mixes athleticism and theatrics. Gabby Haller, of Granite City, tends to hang on to her mother. The autistic 12-year-old used to get so nervous before exhibitions that she would say she was going to vomit. Now Gabby performs in front of large crowds, and cheerleading practice is one of the few times she separates from family without angst. Her mom, Regina Haller, said cheerleading has helped Gabby "open up a little." Her best friend, neighbor and fellow cheerleader Katlynn Schreckenberg has a growth disorder that causes her knees to pop out, limiting her ability to walk or run. The 12-year-old said her legs are less swollen and more nimble during cheer season because of practices and conditioning. "You can really see the difference when she walks," said her mom, Laura Schreckenberg. Presson believes the addition of special-needs teams has benefited able-bodied cheerleaders as well. A girl who has worked for six months on a complicated routine might be less frustrated while sharing the gym with a disabled peer who struggles to conquer a somersault, he said. And experienced cheerleaders sometimes find more joy working with special-needs teams than winning their own competitions. "It allows people to see that the things we're so worried about, that seem so critical, well, maybe they're not," he says. "It gives you a different perspective on what's important." For more information about the Super Stars program, visit http://www.prideofil.com. For more information about the Midwest Open Challenge cheerleading competition, visit http://www.cheerwca.com/open-championship-information.htm. See the original article at http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnews/story/C8180454EF510B5686257400000DE850?OpenDocument