Competition lets kids be of good cheer (+video)

They have the same hip-hop dance moves, the same cheeky attitude, the same contemporary music.

They have glitter on their eyelids, big bows in their hair and their team’s letters emblazoned on their uniforms.

What 5-year-old cheerleaders lack that their older counterparts display on the court or on the field is a certain grace that comes with age. But the little ones make up for it in close proximity to the floor and sheer original flexibility.

“My daughter’s been doing it since she was 4,” Tina Helvy of Arkansas City said Saturday during a competitive cheerleading competition at Hartman Arena. Her daughter Jasmine is now 12. Forty-eight teams from Wichita, several other cities in Kansas and from Joplin, Mo., took part in the America’s Best Wichita Championship, sponsored by JAM Brands of Louisville, Ky. Cheerleaders ranging in age from 3 to 18 performed routines in a bid to attend a national championship in Kansas City.

But these cheerleaders are not the kind that cheer on teams from the sidelines. They are the teams, the athletes, the competitors. They perform routines that would be seen during a game only during time-outs or half-time.

“It’s fun to watch. They’re pretty amazing, what they can do,” said Sara Sumner, who traveled with her husband, Toby, from Baldwin City to watch their daughter Athene Eldredge compete.

“A lot of people don’t think it’s a sport, but it takes a lot of athletic ability,” Sara Sumner said.

“If you can break your hand doing it,” added her husband, referring to an injury from which their daughter has recently bounced back.

A combination of dance, gymnastics and stunts, competitive cheerleading routines are done to contemporary music – or oldies that have been given an edge – and include no cheers whatsoever. But the teams do build pyramids and thrust their arms skyward in the traditional touchdown motion.

Even the small ones hoist each other by the legs and balance their feet on teammates’ hands and catch each other when they come back down.

Torynn Smykil, an 8-year-old third-grader from Arkansas City, was on the first team that performed Saturday at Hartman, the Ark City Divas. It’s one of several teams that practice at their own gym in the town. Torynn travels to competitions from San Antonio to Tampa, Fla., and sometimes misses school to do so. It started with a summer camp one week, said her mother, Shannon.

“She was instantly hooked. She said, ‘Mom, I have to do this.’ She saw the older girls who were competing and begged to do it. I was apprehensive at first, because there’s so much practice and lots of traveling, but the coach said, ‘You can do it.’ So I enjoy it now. ... As a family, we all love it. My husband goes to every competition with her.” Torynn’s two brothers and two sisters were in attendance Saturday, since it was so close to home.

While Torynn occasionally has to miss school, “the school is very supportive,” her mother said. “When she leaves, her whole class wishes her good luck, and they want to know how she did.” If she wins a medal, she gets to show the class on Monday.

Helvy said that competitive cheerleading has given her daughter self-esteem, leadership skills and companions who are like sisters.

“This is her life. She’s become a leader for the younger ones. It makes them so social. They are like a family,” Helvy said.

Sara Sumner said her daughter also cheers for the athletic teams at Baldwin City High School, but “she doesn’t like sideline cheering as much as the competitive,” because she prefers tumbling.

“She practices a lot. We’re hoping to get scholarships so she can cheer in college.” Because Athene’s coach is also the cheer coach at the University of Kansas, Sumner is hoping her daughter will one day cheer on the Jayhawks in nearby Lawrence.

This story was originally published January 23, 2016 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Competition lets kids be of good cheer (+video)."