When cheerleading squads took over Stride Place earlier this year, it seemed to spark an interest from some of the youth at Yellowquill School.
Physical Educator Nathaniel Guiboche headed up the team and outlines how it got started.
"Back in January, during a student council meeting, some of the students were mentioning that they wanted a cheer team. The teacher who was running it, I went to school with her at Brandon University. She knew that I was a cheerleader there, so she threw my name in there. And eventually, these girls asked me to start this cheer team. At first I was a little skeptical of, like, all the safety issues and whatnot, but I tried it out and we seemed to have a very good first year."
Unfortunately, Guiboche notes, they weren't able to sign up in time to enter any competitions with Cheer Manitoba, but they did get to work on some routines, which were utilized at pep rallies and similar events.
Guiboche adds that he had a good number of students take part this past year, ending the year with 15, with more registered fro the next year already.
"I have about 20 participants for next year. The girls really had fun, and we had one male participant there as well. He seemed to enjoy it as well, so I'm looking forward to next year.
Guiboche says that he is hoping to raise some funds to order uniforms for all the participants and to help fund the team as well.
"Each uniform is about roughly $100. And of course in cheer I can't get really order the jersey zip because I need more participants, I need to get their size. So, we're seeking roughly about $2000 in order to get those uniforms," he continues. "I am seeking for sponsorships throughout the community. Any businesses that might be willing to help us out, it will help us out with uniforms, team travel, possibly meals as well during these competitions that we're signing up in the fall."
Anyone interested in supporting the team is asked to reach out by email or be reaching out to the school by phoning (204) 857-8714.