Cheering With PRIDE

By Lauren Means • Photos Courtesy of Nashville Cheer

“Brr! It’s cold in here! I said there must be some Toros In the atmosphere!” If you were watching movies in 2000, you have heard this at least once in your life. Most of us have even chanted it. The movie “Bring It On” brought high school cheerleading to the big screen. Since then, there have been reality shows and documentaries about the sport.

Traditionally, cheerleading is a performance activity to ignite spirit and enthusiasm in sports spectators. In the past several decades, it has become a sport itself. In fact, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognized cheerleading as a sport in July 2021. This was the first step to becoming an Olympic sport. Since then, there has been a lot of work being done to have cheer listed as an official sport for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Cheerleading has also started to take on another form — charitable cheer. “Charitable cheer means we cheer and raise money for local LGBTQIA charities and organizations,” explained Kat who is the founder of Nashville Cheer. “We raise money by doing paid performances as well as fundraising.”

Kat moved to Middle Tennessee around two years ago and after getting established and settled she realized how much she missed cheer. “I saw there was an opportunity for a team out here and got to work getting it started,” Kat said.

During its first year, Nashville Cheer participated in many events including pride festivals and parades across the area, an exhibition at the Nashville Predators Pride Night, and a pre-pride event at the Virgin Hotel. Kat said her favorite moment this year was the event at the Virgin Hotel where the Nashville Pride team was able to perform alongside entertainers like RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Alyssa Edwards.

Nashville Cheer wrapped up its first season in June and is getting ready to start up its clinics for the upcoming season. Currently, the team practices and trains at Music City Muscle, but Kat is looking for some new spaces. “We are searching for a cheer [and] gymnastics home since we are starting to outgrow our current amazing space. If [anyone has] any information on other locations it would be greatly appreciated,” she said.

If Nashville Cheer sounds like something you would be interested in, check it out. Prior cheer experience is not required. Kat said that a want to help the community is the only prerequisite to joining the team and they are open to everyone with any ability and experience. Team positions include dancing, stunting, administration, and social media.

If you are interested in joining, Kat urges you to fill out the Google form in the Nashville Cheer bio on Instagram to join the dance clinic or shoot the team an email at [email protected].

Connect

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nashcheer/
Email: [email protected]