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SASKATOONEXPRESS - February 6-12, 2017 - Page 1
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Volume 15, Issue 5, Week of February 6, 2017
Crushing it
Coach brings wealth of experience to dance team
Jennifer Ritchie, the coach of the Coors Light Saskatchewan Crush Dance Team, was once a cheerleader and coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ cheer team. (Photo by Sandy Hutchinson) Cam Hutchinson Saskatoon Express erek Keenan isn’t the only person coaching a Saskatchewan team during Rush home games. Hidden mostly out of view in the open corner of the SaskTel Centre stands Jennifer Ritchie. When her team takes to the floor, she inches closer to the entrance. Through the dim light, she watches every move her team makes. On this night, she likes what she sees. Ritchie is the coach of the Coors Light Saskatchewan Crush Dance Team. She has coached and performed at high levels before. DC020645 Darlene She was once a Saskatchewan
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Roughrider cheerleader and, for one season, coached the troupe at the same time. Ritchie’s coaching dates back to the early 2000s with the Roughriders and as a volunteer at a Regina high school. She put together the pre-game halftime shows at the 2003 Grey Cup in Regina. That wasn’t the one with the famous snowmobile flip. That piece of lore came 10 years later. Ritchie started dancing when she was “itty bitty.” She competed in solo and group competitions as she was growing up. It was after she moved to Regina that she performed on a bigger stage. “I heard an ad on the radio for Rider tryouts. Because I didn’t work with
anybody my own age, I thought ‘this is a good way to meet a bunch of people.’ It turns out I made the team, so I did my first year cheering and my second year cheering and coaching.” She coached the Roughrider dance team for another two years after that. When Ritchie moved from Regina to Saskatoon, she taught at a couple of local studios and started a pom team at Marion Graham Collegiate. She did that on a volunteer basis for seven seasons. The team did well, winning multiple city and provincial championships. Ritchie replied to an advertisement in 2015 for the Rush job. The team contact-
ed her and interviewed her the same day. “It has been an amazing opportunity to be involved with the start of the team in Saskatchewan from the ground up,” she said. “The growth is certainly more than anyone expected in the first year. The response has been so positive and it’s great to get that kind of support from the community.” And it’s also a great opportunity for local dancers. “Some have trained for 12, 16, 18 years here in Saskatoon, so it’s great to offer them a professional opportunity without having to go to a bigger centre. (Continued on page 14)
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