When Yorkton Minor Football starting sending Pee Wee and Atom teams into the Regina Minor Football league, Raiders cheerleading coach Jennifer Ingham came up with the idea to mirror the growth of the football program's minor ranks with cheerleading in an attempt to grow the sport in the city. It ended up paying off huge dividends as the new Gridders cheer program put together two teams and will be doing the same once again for 2013, expecting a similar turnout while some cheerleaders move on to the YRHS' high school team.
"Like in any sport, having a minor program is huge for the development of the athlete," points out Ingham. "With bigger cities having club teams and the growth of the Gridders football program I felt that having youth cheer squads to cheer on the program while at the same time introducing girls to routines and skills that they can develop at a much younger age would be a huge boost to the sport in our community," says Ingham.
In its first year the Gridders cheer program filled out their sideline cheer team (ages 9-11) and their competitive team (ages 12-14) and will be expecting to do the same again after a week of tryouts.
Last season the Gridders were able to purchase uniforms for the program as well as make trips to some city tournaments for the competitive team, something that would have not been possible without the help of YRHS grad and new Roughrider cheerleader Karissa McBride and YRHS teacher Priya Pandit. "Karissa and Priya have been a huge help whenever I have needed it and without them our success would have been much more difficult," says Ingham.
The Gridders cheer squad will finish tryouts this week and are also looking into starting an adult club depending on community interest.
