Mini-cheer camp gives confidence to kids

EPHRATA - Eight-year-old Adriana Rodriguez is shy.

She gazes to the floor when answering questions and speaks softly.

But when asked why she likes cheerleading, the third-grader's face lights up.

"When I move, it makes me feel really happy," described the Columbia Ridge Elementary student during a lunch break at the 12th annual Ephrata High School mini-cheer camp.

Her mother, Jamie Valdez said she decided to put her daughter in the cheer camp for the first time this year when her daughter brought her the camp form and asked if she could participate.

"It was really important that she wanted to do it and everything she did she did on her own. Last year, she brought me the form but didn't say anything. This year, she brought me the form again and asked if she could be part of it," said Valdez.

Around 70 girls from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade woke up early on Saturday morning to learn how to "hit the crowd" (a free-style final jump a cheerleader ends their routine with), proper walk-on and walk-off etiquette and a slew of other cheerleading moves.

The camp was divided into two groups, one for cheerleaders from pre-kindergarten to third grade and another for third through sixth grades.

The younger group danced to the song, "Who Let The Dogs Out?" while the older group had a more complex routine with the Spice Girls song "Wannabe."

The pint-sized cheerleaders performed their dance routine during half-time at the Ephrata High School girls basketball game on Saturday night.

Cheer coach Debbie McDonnell said the camp gives the kids a chance to have fun with their peers.

"The camp teaches kids to cooperate and accept other people," she said.

Pam Hill, of Ephrata, said she's been bringing her granddaughters, Aubrey and Madison, to the camp for the last three years.

"We're just getting them prepared for high school. They want to cheer," she said. "The camp gives the girls' spirit and friendship."

One of her granddaughters, Madison Hill, said she liked the dancing part of the camp the most.

"I want to be a singer when I grow up," said the seven-year-old.

Shirley Young said the camp taught her fifth-grade daughter "team spirit."

"I think (cheerleading is a) form of sport that teaches them teamwork," said Young.

The camp also gave an opportunity for the eight Ephrata High School volunteer cheerleaders to give back to the community.

Junior Keller Allen said she wanted to volunteer because she liked being around children.

"I remember when I was younger and I was in cheer camp. I looked up to all the cheerleaders and wanted to be like them," said Allen, who has lived in Ephrata her whole life.

She said she attended the high school mini-cheer camp when she was younger.

Fellow cheerleader Tiana Schmitz remembered liking to cheer a lot when she was younger.

"I remember preforming in front of the high school, just like these kids will do, and seeing my mom out there," said Schmitz, who is originally from Spokane.

The camp has grown in size since it first started, said McDonnell.

"Every year, we get more and more kids coming. We started off with about 50 kids during the first year and we've registered up to 110 kids in past camps," said McDonnell. "The parents have a really good time watching their kids out there."