Pryor Youth Cheer Squad Practicing For National Competition

A Pryor Youth Cheer squad just formed a team this year and already the squad is soaring to new heights.

The team is headed to nationals next month.

With every stunt and pike jump, the Pryor Youth Liberty Cheer team pours their sweat and tears into their practices.

Girls on the team, like Haeleigh Ward, want to be perfect for their chance at a national title next month.

It's not easy--the routine pushes her and the others to new limits, but Haeleigh says there is no place she'd rather be.

"It really helps with your confidence,” she said. “It's really fun, and it's a lot of hard work, but I would rather do this than sit on the couch. You should have seen our first competition to now. It's crazy how much we have grown."

It's crazy because their first competition was only four months ago.

Their coach, Christi Williams, formed the squad because their area didn't offer a competitive rec team.

"Before now, you had to travel to Tulsa to get to a competitive cheer team,” she said. “These girls that are in these rural communities are now able to compete competitively and don't have to travel and at a fraction of the cost."

The goal was for the girls to improve and learn new skills; Christi says she didn't expect them to make it to nationals in their first year.

But now that they have, she couldn't be prouder.

“We had girls that couldn't even do a cartwheel at the beginning of the season that are now throwing a backhand spring,” said Christi. “Every single one of these girls, I can tell you a skill that they didn't have at the beginning of the season, or they have developed several after that. They work extremely hard."

Pushing for perfection while lifting each other up isn't easy.

But these girls are up for the challenge.

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