Franklin Regional Athletic Association competitive cheer team off to a hot start

The Franklin Regional Athletic Association isn’t wasting time in building on its first successful year with a cheerleading squad.

This year they added a competitive cheer team, and its members just brought home a first-place finish in the 12U division at the HACC Cheer Fest, held Oct. 27 in Hempfield.

“They overcame injuries and illnesses,” said athletic association President Michelle Kish. “The team was considering withdrawing a couple days beforehand, but we encouraged them to go for it and they came out victorious.”

It’s a strong showing in what was only the squad’s second competition, and both Kish and competition team coach Kayla Wyles said it has them confident they made the right decision in starting the program.

“The Franklin Regional Athletic Association has been around for decades with baseball, softball and boys’ and girls’ basketball,” said Kish, of Murrysville. “I was approached by a mom who asked if we ould roll out a cheer team that aligns with the basketball season.”

Last year, Kish worked with other parents to start up a recreational cheering program and ended up with a roster of about 60 cheerleaders.

“There are a lot of girls who want to cheer for Franklin Regional Youth Football, but aren’t able to because there’s a long waiting list,” Kish said. “We wanted to provide this opportunity to more kids.”

The Franklin Regional Athletic Association worked with league officials to lengthen basketball halftime breaks and allow the cheer team to perform a full routine. Practices begin in November and the recreational cheer team will attend boys’ basketball games when they start in January, Kish said.

“They’ll mainly be at the Monday and Tuesday night games,” she said. “We have about 80 cheerleaders this year. The girls’ basketball league finishes up its games by early January, so unfortunately we’re practicing as the girls are playing, but we’re going to try and make it to some of their later games. It’s a problem we’re actively trying to solve.”

As for the competition team, Wyles wanted to start it last year alongside the recreational team, but opted to put the most effort into establishing an overall program.

“While the rec process was going on, I met with Franklin Regional’s high school cheer coach and spent about a year working on logistics, getting certified as a USA Cheer coach and stunt coach and making sure I was up-to-date with the latest rules and safety regulations,” she said. “Right now we’re a 12-and-under group, but I want to continue expanding and bringing in more girls and age levels.”

Local competitions are organized among the other community athletic leagues in the region — one will take place in December at Franklin Regional Senior High School — but Wyles said the squad can also take part in United Cheer Association competition and work to earn a bid to regional and national meets.

“I have really big dreams,” she said. “We set a goal of doing three competitions this year, and we’ve already scheduled four.”

That includes the HACC Cheer Fest last week, where the competition squad brought home its first place finish.

In addition, Wyles said the athletic association program is aligning its curriculum and expectations with Franklin Regional’s high school program.

“We work on some of the same cheers, so the community knows the callbacks,” she said. “But more than than, our plan is to have these younger girls work their way onto the middle school and varsity, know what’s expected and have the basic foundation.”

For more on the Franklin Regional Athletic Association Youth Cheer programs, see athletic associationsports.org.