- November 23, 2024
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Found on a large field behind Wadsworth Elementary School, surrounded by dozens of practicing flag footballers, you won’t hear the Flagler Xtreme cheerleading squad complain that they don’t have the facilities and training gear their competition may be able to boast of. You will, however, observe multiple-time champions develop continue to their craft.
Flagler Xtreme All-Stars, made up of girls from 4-18 years old, have become a consistent championship statewide and even nationwide contender, and their doing it with limited resources.
“We’re at a disadvantage because most all-star teams have gyms; we don’t,” said Chanel Lamanna, the program’s head coach. “We practice on a field. But, I think we actually have the advantage, because we don’t have the luxury of the spring floor and all the other stuff. So, once we get on there, they do well to hold their lines.”
As if practicing on a field wasn’t tough enough, Lamanna says her girls’ conditioning includes running up and down the field, doing bear crawls, squats and other exercises most non-cheerleaders would assume they do. That exercise regiment, mixed with a commitment to show up as often as practice is held, has caused her program to drop from 50 cheerleaders at the beginning to roughly the 15. But, whatever she has them doing, it’s a winning formula, because they keep bringing hardware back to Palm Coast.
In their most recent competition, the All-Stars won the Florida Dance and Cheer National championship with zero point deductions.
To help Flagler Xtreme in all of their efforts, donate at gofundme.com/2mv3cezg.
