8 - The Review, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, March 29, 2017
Provincials brings 1,200 athletes, 3,200 spectators here
Weyburn cheer teams keep hardware home
Junior girls jump into cheerleading
Review Photo 2151 — Greg Nikkel
The Weyburn Comp Eagles junior girls cheer squad jump during their routine for the Junior Level 2 at the Saskatchewan Provincial Cheer and Dance Championships held on Saturday at the Comp School. The Comp’s senior and junior girls, plus the Airbourne Cheer Athletics Bluebirds, all competed against teams from across Saskathewan, and all teams won awards, with coach Kyla Moffat named as Coach of the Year for the Saskatchewan Cheerleading Association. The junior girls squad won third place in Junior Level 2 cheer and third in junior small pom. By Greg Nikkel The Weyburn Comprehensive School hosted the Saskatchewan Provincial Cheer and Dance Championships on Saturday, attended by around 1,200 participants and over 3,200 spectators from all over the province for the competition, with Weyburn keeping some of the hardware at home. “The event itself ran very smoothly. Even with the large crowds of spectators and athletes, there were very few hiccups in the day. We had many comments about our beautiful school facility and our welcoming community,” said organizer and cheer coach Kyla Moffat. “The athletes all left with smiles so that made all the hard work and planning worth it.” The main venue for the competition was the Eagle gym, and the Cugnet Centre was used as the warmup areas for the cheer teams, which puzzled some of the spectators, said Moffat. “Some people asked why it was not held in the Cugnet Centre. The stage is too small for the dimensions of the required spring floor (54x42), so the mats would have to be on the gym floor, leaving only about 250 seats for spectators. With a capacity of 1,100 people, the Eagles gym was the better choice to accommodate the sold-out crowds.” Moffat was herself recognized, as she was named the Coach of the Year by the Saskatchewan Cheerleading Association, with the award presented to her at the awards
ceremony on Saturday afternoon following the Scholastic Cheer session, where both the senior and junior cheer squads from the Comp took home trophies. She was overcome with emotion as she tried speaking to the crowd, and going over to the senior girls team, she was mobbed by them as they hugged her and congratulated her for the award. “Being nominated by the athletes on my senior cheer team for Saskatchewan Cheerleading Association Coach of the Year was very humbling. There were three other nominees that are all outstanding at what they do, and I know how hard coaches all over the province work for their teams and their programs every day. To have the award presented to me in front of my hometown crowd after a year of planning the provincials event was very, very special to me, but the genuine love from my athletes is what truly overwhelmed me the most,” she said. The senior cheer team won first place in the Senior Level 3 Cheer category, and third in senior small pom, while the junior team won third in Junior Level 2 cheer, and third for junior small pom. The big surprise and delight for the hometown crowd was the youngest group, Weyburn’s Airbourne Cheer Athletics Bluebirds, in their first year as a team who won first place in the All Star Youth Prep Level 1, and were named the Grand Champions of the All Star Prep Division, which included nine teams in three categories.
“Those are excellent results for the Weyburn teams, particularly the Airbourne team because it is a brand new program this year,” said Moffat. Asked what a highly-visible and prestigious event like this will do for the sport in Weyburn, Moffat replied, “The cheer program in Weyburn has been steadily growing in the past 10 years. We have a great group of dedicated coaches who are passionate about cheer and we’ve created a family atmosphere among our teams. We created the Weyburn Association of Cheer Coaches a few years ago to help grow the sport of cheerleading in our community, and we are currently fundraising to purchase a spring floor to train on since that is what the athletes compete on. I am dedicated to growing an All Star program for Weyburn and area and to continuing our strong school programs as well.” She added that the sport of cheerleading will only continue to grow as a result of this event. “Hosting the Provincial Championships was a way for us to show our community what kind of program we are trying to build as well as promote the growth of the sport in our province. The Saskatchewan Cheerleading Association memberships are growing every year with new teams and new programs, and with the recent announcement from the IOC about cheer being given sport status, the growth will likely continue. It is a very exciting time to be involved in cheer in Saskatchewan,” she said.
U of R cheerleaders put on demo Members of the University of Regina Cougars cheerleading squad demonstrate some of their moves in a group stunt, at the conclusion of the Scholastic Cheer session at the Saskatchewan Provincial Cheer and Dance Championships, held on Saturday at the Comp Eagle gym. The small group includes two Weyburn girls, Taryn Murray-Underwood and Emma Review Photo 2211 — Greg Nikkel Hulbert.
Senior Eagles girls in a winning formation
Review Photo 2042 — Greg Nikkel
The Comp Eagles senior girls cheer team get into formation during their performance at the Saskatchewan Provincial Cheer and Dance Championships held on Saturday at the Comp School in the Eagle gym. The senior girls won first place in Senior Level 3 cheer and third for senior small pom for their efforts, plus their coach Kyla Moffat was named the Coach of the Year for the Saskatchewan Cheerleading Association.
Comp Eagles boys earn provincial championship This past weekend, the Weyburn Comp’s senior boys’ basketball team became the 2017 SHSAA 4A Provincial Champions at Hoopla. This is the first time since 1975 the boys have captured a provincial championship and it was well-deserved in a game that one fan declared “was the best high school basketball game” she has ever seen. The senior girls’ basketball team were in tough at the SHSAA provincials and finished fourth. In the first game versus Bedford Road, the Eagles won by the score of 93-57. The top scorer was Paul Dionne with 30 points.
In the provincial championship game against Moose Jaw Central, the Comp Eagles won 103-80. The top scorers were Dionne and Spencer Anderson with 21 points each. “The team played superb defence in both games. We took their scorers out of their comfort zones,” said the Eagles coach Jacquie Williams. “Offensively, they played a very selfless style of basketball. They got the ball to whoever was open, a real team effort,” she added. “The guys worked very hard this season on individual skills. When it came time to make the big shots, several of
the team stepped up and sunk their shots,” said Williams of her team. She noted that Earl Pineda, an electric point guard, led the charge, getting the ball up the court and distributing the ball to a variety of team mates. “Grade 12 player Spencer Anderson had the best game of his three seasons with me. He shot the three ball well, drove well, and shut down their fast break,” she said, adding of Dionne, “he was huge in the paint, and when they double- and triple-teamed him, he got the ball to his open teammates. All in all, from my perspective it was one of those games where everything came together.”