Peak Force Cheer starts season strong

TICONDEROGA | In the North Country, cheerleading is making a comeback. In Ticonderoga, Pam Moser's Peak Force Cheer (PFC) is not only helping shape the youngest of athletes, but helping to shape a future town. "I really feel that investing in communities and our children and giving them an amazing activity is worth its weight in gold," said Pam Moser, owner and director of PFC. "We are raising a beautiful community and kids are only kids once- let's give them as great an experience as possible." On Saturday, Jan. 10, Peak Force Cheer's eldest team, the group of 18-and-under athletes known as "WolfJaw," attended their first major Rise Productions Fearless Regional competition in Albany, and took first place. Peak Force's next competition for all teams will be Sunday, Jan. 18 in Saranac. "We had several that were extremely nervous, but they overcame their nerves and did a great job on the floor," said Moser. "It was great exposure at this level." Moser (a lifelong cheerleader, coach, and judge through the New York State Public High School Athletic Association) established a cheer program in the area back in 2004. After a period of a year, the program ceased operating for a decade, until four years ago when Moser decided to bring it back. Starting with 22 kids, PFC now engages 74 children ages 5-18 (22 children started with the program four years ago). With five teams (named after various Adirondack High Peaks), PFC has an army of 12 coaches with Moser, Akashia Ross, and Amy Smith serving as the head coaches. "I don't leave any child out, my program is open to everyone," Moser said. "Boys and girls of any age and any ability and any disability are welcome. I am a private organization so students from anywhere can participate." Whether from Moriah, Crown Point, Schroon Lake, or beyond, as long as area kids can consistently show up for practices, they are invited to join. In Moser's eyes, the benefits that cheerleading provides children are numerous and significant. "In the world of cheerleading, nobody sits the bench, everybody has a unique position," Moser explained. "Working with a team pulls the whole routine altogether. It is vitally important that everyone is present at competition and at practice." In addition to the physical fitness component (strength, cardio, flexibility, body awareness and agility), cheerleading is well-known to instill discipline, boost confidence and leadership skills, demonstrate how to work within a team to accomplish a goal, and perhaps most importantly, teach young people how to navigate complex emotions and face adversity and failure with dignity and grace, setting kids up to be emotionally well-rounded and grounded adults. "I tell the kids, everybody is either a cheerleader or needs to be cheered on during their life in many different phases," Moser said. "They learn to be that positive person. A cheerleader's position is to take something negative and turn it into a positive, which can be hard and challenging. I talk about a lot of things in life with the kids, like their tools in their toolbox; being able to look at someone telling them how they feel, the mindset of learning how to leave negative things at the door and absorbing and focusing on the here and now. Cheer is especially good for teenagers and their growing minds and developing social skills. Understand there are a lot of failures in life, lesson especially for older kids, you will go through more failures than successes, how do we overcome them." And for kids who find they excel at cheerleading, it can also offer avenues for furthering their education. "There are cheerleading scholarships," Moser said. "Full rides are possible, though it's usually bigger D1 and D2 schools that will have those scholarships, it all depends on who you are as the individual and school you are looking at." Last year, Peak Force Cheer entered the competition circuit, introducing an entire new element of the sport to the kids. "We live in Section 7 and the high school coaches (not here in Ti) but in the rest of Section 7 are really working hard at developing the youth programs to create a feeder program for the high schools," Moser said. "For the first time last April, we got teams together in Section 7 and competed in Northeast Clinton." For the second year, the Ticonderoga Alumni Association has invited Peak Force Cheer back to their Alumni Basketball Tournament fundraiser on April 18 to perform and bring Sentinel spirit to the high school gymnasium. Moser is hopeful that next year, a unified cheerleading team will be a reality. Peak Force Cheer kids also do a major yearly fundraiser of their own to assist with the cost of uniforms, sneakers, and a hair bow, aptly named "Bow Fundraisers." "If a student cannot afford a uniform, we make sure it is all covered," Moser assured. "We are also looking to fundraise to purchase an industrial vacuum for our two-inch thick gymnastics mats." To make a donation to the cheer teams, please send checks made payable to "Peak Force Cheer" to Pam Moser *ATTN: Peak Force Cheer) at 16 Amherst Avenue, Ticonderoga, NY 12883. With the next season set to begin in October, early registration for Peak Force Cheer will begin in early summer this year. Please follow Facebook to stay updated. For more information, please contact Moser at peakforce23@gmail.com or call 518-586-2294. "If maybe somebody is thinking to themselves they could do work in the community and spend time with kids, there are so many opportunities to do so," Moser said. "Whether it is an existing organization, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, I would encourage everyone to be active and be involved and help make a difference."

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Peak Force Cheer starts season strong

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