By Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
Walking into the new Dance Carousel studio at 402 S. Ball St., three glittering trophies stand proudly in the middle shelf over the dance floor mirror. The All Stars cheerleading competition team went to their first competition Oct. 28, at the Lakeland Civic Center, and took home two first-place awards and one second-place out of 192 teams.
“The Minis only lost to first place by one-seventh of a point,” owner Lori Matta said.
Matta, a former New England Patriots cheerleader, has been teaching dance, cheerleading and tumbling in Plant City for years. After moving from the Boston area about seven years ago, she taught dance at the 1914 Plant City High School Community Center, before purchasing the old Garden Club building, 1112 N. Wheeler St., for her own studio.
Matta has expanded her dance empire by creating a competition team in January and along with it, moved to a bigger facility in May. For years, parents of her students had been asking her to create a competition team.
After meeting former cheerleader Lindsey Baxter, the two decided to tackle the idea. Baxter introduced Matta to Courtney Browning. Together they created a teaching trio. Baxter and Browning both cheered for their former high schools and have qualifications in stunts, tumbling and injury prevention.
Matta was a gymnast. After blowing out her knee for a third time in college, she furthered her education and got a master’s degree in sports medicine and exercise physiology from California State University. She ran Olympian Cathy Rigby’s gymnastics school and has been teaching for 35 years.
“We love what we do and we are very passionate at what we do,” Matta said. “It’s about being with the kids and building those childhood memories and building their self confidence.”
The All Stars practice their two-minute, 30-second routine about three to five hours per week.
“We tell them we’re developing athletes — not cheerleaders,” Baxter said. “We’re always pushing them to the next level. If they don’t leave here with a red face and pouring sweat then you’re not working hard enough.”
But it’s not all work and no play at Dance Carousel.
The girls have a lock-in about once every two months, during which they can bond and have time to be kids. They also have “Secret Stallion Sisters,” where the girls are paired up and write secret encouraging notes to each other about their skills.
“It’s more than just cheer and tumbling,” Baxter said. “The girls are like family. Courtney, Lori and I are almost like their moms, because we spend so much time with them. We require them to have good grades and stay out of trouble.”
The All Stars consists of three teams divided by age — Mini Team, Youth Team and Senior Team. About 70 girls showed up at tryouts.
“It was a good fitness thing for me, and it was a good way to express my love for cheer,” senior team member Kaitlyn Sullivent said. “The first competition was fun. I had so much adrenaline; it was crazy.”
In addition to the competition team, Dance Carousel offers recreation cheer and tumbling classes and jazz, tap and ballet classes on its 2,300-square-foot dance floor.
Matta’s mother has run two dance studios and a gymnastics center for 50 years in New England. Matta gets her passion for coaching from her family.
“My mother always said, ‘You want those kids to run through that door and hug you,’” Matta said. “And that’s what they do here. It’s about the kids. The kids come first. I live for those kids.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.