Troup cheer camp a hit
Published 11:01 am Monday, July 23, 2018
By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY
Daily News
It was a cheerleading crash course.
For a few hours on Saturday, dozens of young girls learned the ins and outs of cheerleading during a youth camp at Troup High.
The camp was offered by the Troup cheerleading program, with members of the team serving as instructors.
While it was a fun day for the campers, it was a valuable experience for the Troup cheerleaders, who got to be on the other side of the teacher-student relationship.
“This makes them more aware of what it takes,” said Amelia Key, Troup’s cheerleading coach. “They have to be able to teach somebody to do it, and talk and communicate, and interact with people they don’t know, and learn how to deal with situations. They just don’t get that a lot of times.”
One of the cheerleaders, Katilyn Butler, said it was an eye-opening experience.
“What we have to teach them, our coaches had to teach us,” Butler said. “We kind of see how hard it is for our coaches to teach us, and it makes us want to listen, and learn, so we’ll get better.”
Fellow cheerleader Dazia Potts said “it was really fun” to work with the girls.
“You get to inspire little kids,” Potts added “It’s fun to see them grow, and see them playing, and see them actually learn something. That’s pretty cool to see.”
While Key oversees the camp, she said it’s her cheerleaders who take the reins.
“They really do run it, and deal with crying children,” Key said. “It’s good for them, and they enjoy it.”
At the close of the camp, the girls performed a routine for their proud family members.
Key made sure to let her cheerleaders know how proud she was of them for the work they did.
“Everybody was like we didn’t get much done, but for three hours, you got a lot done,” Key said. “Getting them to get dressed some days is a three-hour process.”
The camp, which partly serves as a fund-raiser for the program, has been held each summer for about 15 years.
There are other ways to raise money, but Key believes this is the best way to go about it.
“This is a skill set we have, and I think our kids enjoy it, and I think it gets our kids out there,” Key said.
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