Neelyville holds cheer camp

Neelyville R-IV cheerleaders haven’t allowed COVID to dampen their spirit.

While the district has only been able to hold home camps since the start of the pandemic, the youth are making the most of the training, with hopes that away camps will be available next year.

Neelyville recently held a two-day camp and has named its All-American Team.

The group includes Lora Ainley, Maddie Lumby, Brooklyn Piroli, Aryn Conner, who are in high school, and Peyton Barker, who is in junior high. These students have qualified for special events such as performing in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and London, high school cheer coach Brandi Lumby said.

The district held its two-day camp June 17-18. It was held in association with the Universal Cheerleaders Association, which offers a variety of cheer camps.

“The girls learned cheer and dance choreography, stunts and pyramids,” said Lumby, who is in her seventh year coaching. “I feel like UCA camp is such a great opportunity for team growth in skills as well as team bonding.”

Those attending the camp were Merin Inman, Livvy Isom, Ainley, Lumby, Conner, Piroli, Paige Long, Shanine Watkins, Maci Wlodarcik, Barker and Emily Cloud.

Students were scored on dance, cheer and jump to qualify for the All-American Team. They were given their awards on the last day of camp.

Neelyville cheerleaders are also hoping to make a return to regionals and state competitions this year. Last year was their first time competing, but in October 2021, they placed third at regionals.

“We didn’t expect to place third,” Lumby said. “We were excited. We came home and tried to beef up our routine. To qualify for state, you had to score a certain score at regionals in order to move on to state.”

The team is still dreaming after their second place victory at the state event at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

Last year the cheer team sacrificed a lot, according to Lumby.

“We set this goal, but we didn’t want to slack on any of our normal duties,” Lumby said. “We still went to every ball game that our teams have. We cheer for the boys and the girls for high school. We would sneak in a practice here, go to a ball game or practice at the ball game. We do Saturday practices. So really, any time we could get in practice, we would.”