Air Academy High School Cheer hosted an open gym on Jan 27, 2023. Open gyms are a great opportunity for students who have no experience in the cheer atmosphere to experience what being a member of the team is like. This also gives students who are interested in trying out for the team later this year a way to prepare. Along with gaining an idea of what tryouts may be like, this also benefits the current team by giving  them extra practice to train their skills.

Open gyms consist of tumbling, stunting, jumps, and the possibility of learning a dance. Anyone is welcome to come to open gyms. AAHS Cheers goal for these open gyms are to create a warm and welcoming environment and bring the cheer community together. They are meant to help with improving skills while also being something that everyone can go to have fun and feel free of judgment. When speaking to assistant coach, Isabel Perkins, she gave some insight of how open gyms will affect both students and current team members. 

“I think that if you’re coming into an open gym and you’re not already on the team it’s a good opportunity to understand what being a team member can be like. It also gives people the opportunity to get a better understanding of the sport itself,” Perkin explained.

With this in mind, those who are interested in trying out for the sport can gather a better understanding of what being a team member is like. Along with getting a chance to experience the sport for themselves. 

“Yea I think open gyms help current team members by giving them the opportunity to to build strength and continue working on skills. Open gyms can also help with team bonding which is very important for the girl on the team,” Perkins added

While making sure the team is in shape and is working on skill and technique, it’s important to remember other factors also play a role into how a team performs. Perkins mentioned open gyms can act as team bonding, which is an incredibly important factor when it comes to a cheer team. This is because Cheer requires a lot of trust in one another. When stunting the girls have to have faith and trust in one another that they will not let anyone get hurt.

The role of the flyer is being put into the air and performing while staying tight and clean. The role of a base and backspot is to put the flyer in the air and make sure she does not touch the ground. This can be a very dangerous thing because stunts do not always go as planned, so everyone has to trust each other so that no one gets hurt. Talking with returning member,  sophomore Elleigh Bormanis, she explained how open gyms affect her as a team member.

“I feel open gyms could help students who aren’t on the team already because they can start working on new skills they don’t or already have for tryouts in the future,” Bormanis stated.

Open gyms can better prepare students for the tryouts for this coming season.

“Open gyms can help me improve my technique, to better my performance as a team member,” Bormanis shared.

Open gyms are a great way for all students and team members to practice both new and old skills. They also can help bring awareness and interest to the sport. Open gyms are also more light hearted than normal practices so the team is able to use them to grow closer to one another before the new season!