PG All-Stars Cheer take advantage of shift to virtual competitions

The success they’ve seen, racking up the banners and seeing the development of their athletes, linked to the increased number of competitions, MacDonald hopes virtual competitions continue in the future.

“If competition organizers wanted to continue virtually, we would definitely benefit,” explained MacDonald. “We even participated in a competition from Ontario, and we would have never been able to do that.”

MacDonald stated that while they did participate in several more competitions this past year because of the shift to virtual formats, she also still managed to remain within her typical operating budget.

It hasn’t just been the athletes who have been growing and benefitting from PG All-Stars still being in the gym, but their coaches as well, who have benefitted mentally over the past year.

“I’ve been an athlete and I’ve been a coach for a really long time,” said Coach April Hackle. “I know a lot of the kids really well. Just being around them, they brighten your day. Some of these kids are just my favourite kids in the whole world. I think being around them has definitely lifted my spirits in the past year when I really haven’t been able to do other things that I normally would get to do.”

With the PG All-Stars still being able to operate, Hackle admits it’s served as a major benefit to her own mental wellbeing over the past year.

“I’ve definitely come into the gym on my worst days and left it feeling amazing just because of the atmosphere and being able to be around the people that are here.”

When it comes to cheer, the sport is traditionally a combination of both tumbling and stunting. However, they’ve been limited to just tumbling the past year due to restrictions. With the gradual loosening of restrictions, MacDonald is eager to get back to the full dynamic of the sport.

“Already, regulations from BC Sport Cheer and the viaSport have shown that we can be stunting outside with masks,” said MacDonald. “That’s full contact, that’s the only aspect of cheer that is full contact that makes us a full-contact sport. We’re eager to get back to being within six feet of each other and lifting each other up again.”

This week marked their first of summer programming for this year. The way MacDonald has designed her summer programming is similar to what she has been offering to her competitive cheer athletes. She hopes that doing things that way will help in reeling new athletes to the PG All-Stars. Recreational classes are also being made available over the summer for the first time, however, rather than the 10-12 weeks MacDonald would typically be offered, she’s shortened them to six weeks with families potentially making other summer plans as restrictions loosen.

“I think it will really benefit more kids. That’s kind of the aspect I want to throw out there, by getting more athletes means I get to impact more athletes in Prince George and broaden our scope for cheer.”

by Ethan Ready

PG All-Stars Cheer take advantage of shift to virtual competitions

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