KY Elite Showcats & Kentucky Gymcats

Wed, Apr. 02, 2008

Showcats have plenty to cheer about Elite Showcats are national champs; now they're going to Disney World By Robin Roenker Special to the Herald-Leader In the world of competitive cheerleading, local squads from the University of Kentucky and Dunbar High School are perennial powerhouses. But they're not Lexington's only championship teams.

The Kentucky Elite Showcats made up of special-needs athletes ages 11 to 43 are seven-time national champions in their own right. Members of the squad have won their ­division at the Cheersport ­Cheerleading and Dance Competitions in Atlanta, which annually brings in some 15,000 cheerleaders and 50,000 spectators, every year they've entered.

In recognition of their accomplishments, Cheersport is sending the Showcats on an all-expenses-paid trip to perform in exhibition at the Cheerleader Worlds Competitions in Orlando, Fla., in late April.

It will be the first time a special-needs team has performed at the event, which annually draws the top cheer teams from throughout the United States and around the world, said Mary Fehrenbach, coach of the Kentucky Elite Showcats.

The group will stay at the ­Disney World Resort and will also get to attend the Disney parks.

We are really excited about this opportunity to be in Florida with the best of the best and showcase special-needs cheerleading to an international audience. This was their way of recognizing the growth of the special-needs industry, said Fehrenbach, who serves as a member on the special-needs committee of the U.S. All Star Federation, the governing body for elite cheerleading in the United States.

When Fehrenbach launched the Showcats squad seven years ago, it was the first special-needs team in the United States to be affiliated with an elite gym.  While Special Olympics cheerleading has been around for 20 years, those teams' seasons last only two to three months typically, Fehrenbach said.   As an elite team, the Showcats have a season that is nine months long. They typically practice four to five hours a week.

Now the idea of launching special-needs teams within the elite cheer arena has caught on.  At the February Cheersport competitions in Atlanta, 14 special-needs teams were represented.   And the federation database now includes 170 special-needs teams in 35 states.

Because of the Showcats' ground-breaking success, Fehrenbach has become a mentor to other coaches trying to get their own special-needs programs going. Recently, coaches in Cincinnati and northern Illinois as well as Canada, China, and Australia have contacted her for advice.

I knew if we could just get the concept out there, other teams would do it, she said. Looking at the faces of her squad members as they prepared recently for their performance at the Kentucky Special Olympics State Cheerleading Competition in Lexington, it was easy to see why.

The teammembers were a mix of smiles and somber concentration as they awaited their turn on the practice mat. The girls looked ready to go, with their hair pulled up in matching bows; their glittery blue eye shadow and gold lipstick accentuated their features.

Then it was practice time.  From nearly the first beat, squad member Megan McCormick was flipped high into the air. To catchy songs like The Monkees' I'm a Believer and the theme song to The Greatest American Hero, the team weaved in and out of pyramids and partner tosses, mixing in flashy pompon work and dance moves.

?Kentucky Elite, best by far, Showcats, Showcats, that's who we are, shouted team captain Tonya Cornett, 37, from front and center. They do college-level stunts, Fehrenbach said. The thing that's unique about special-needs cheerleading with the all-star side of it is that we can showcase our athletes' strengths without showcasing their weaknesses.

Cheering gives Shon Newton, 33, one of two males on the 17-person squad, a chance to do what he loves: flip in the air.  The team's routine is peppered with Newton's skillful tucks, flips and back handsprings.  Newton's wife, Kristi, is also on the team.

I love tumbling and challenging myself, said Cornett, who also serves as a Global Messenger, or ambassador, for Special Olympics Kentucky. And making friends, she added. It was that feeling of community and belonging that convinced April Gray that the team was the right place for her 11-year-old daughter, Heidi Mikelsoo, who is mentally and physically challenged and uses a wheelchair.

Given that they live in Ewing, near Flemingsburg, and would have to commute to Lexington twice a week for practices, Gray wasn't certain at first about having Heidi join the team last fall. But after the first practice, team members asked Fehrenbach when Heidi would be back. Members jostled over the chance to help take care of her, Gray said. I thought, when is Heidi ever going to get a place where she's always wanted by every body? Gray said. She's not fully accepted at school. She's not fully accepted at the grocery store. This is a place where she is part of a team. It's a place where she can be her own person.