A local cheerleading club is seeking a new home on the South Shore.
Universal Cheer has made Bridgewater Elementary School their home for the past five years.
Because of the pandemic, the school board isn’t allowing external users to lease time in the schools.
Universal Cheer Head Coach Nena Erickson says they’ve been practicing at The Big Ex in the interim, but with renovations to that space on the horizon – they’re again looking for a new home.
“So Universal Cheer is currently seeking a space that is 30 feet by 42 feet open, with at least 12 foot high ceilings,” she explained. “This would allow us to put our mats down and allow our athletes to practice and actually still maintain social distancing.”
Erickson notes that they’re willing to look at both long and short-term rental options along the South Shore.
“We have been calling so many places in Mahone Bay, in Lunenburg, in Bridgewater, she noted. “We’re willing to work, really, anywhere around those general areas. Bridgewater, of course, being the industrial part of the South Shore we thought for sure there would be something here but it’s pretty challenging to find space right now – which is a good thing for the local labour market.”
She says the cheerleading program is crucial for children who want to be part of a team, but may not be interested in traditional sports like basketball, or baseball.
“Cheerleading is such a unique and an amazing sport, ” she said. “It allows people to practice until they get really, really great at it and cheerleading has so many different disciplines between dancing, and tumbling, and jumping, and lifting.”
Erickson says if anyone has a line on an appropriate space for the club, they can reach out via facebook or the Universal Cheer website.
She notes that if the club can’t secure a practice space, they may need to fold – a worst case scenario for all involved.
