In Plant City, cheerleading is serious business. So serious that cheerleaders and their families are willing to travel nearly an hour away just to train at the nearest gyms, which can cost thousands of dollars per year.
Soon, though, those problems won’t exist in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.
Local cheer coach Lindsey Hoover, formerly of the Plant City Stallions and Dolphins, is opening up her own cheer gym near Midtown. Fierce Athletics, housed in a new building on Hitchcock Street, will be the first gym of its kind in town.
“I’d been contemplating opening my own gym for the last year and a half,” Hoover says. “Within the last six months, I’ve decided to just go with it. I said, ‘You know what? It’s now or never.’”
PASSION PROJECT
Once Hoover started cheering, it didn’t take long for her to realize she wanted to be a coach. In fact, the coaching she received was what kept her active in the sport.
“When I was younger, I cheered,” she says. “But, I had more of a passion for coaching kids, in general. I just kind of had a natural, motherly instinct, I guess. I just love kids. I got into coaching, and that’s how I found my passion.”
So, she began helping out wherever she could. She worked with high schools, competitive teams, recreational sports leagues — anything with a cheer team. Attending clinics with Tampa-based coach Rick Schulz, of STARS Athletics, helped her refine her craft and hone her coaching ability.
Her memories with the sport are fond, but it’s her run with the Dolphins — three conference titles in three years — that brings her the most pride.
“Just being the best of the best in our conference for three years running was a huge deal for me,” Hoover says.
She chalks it up to the challenge. In her opinion, it’s more difficult to coach a team like the Dolphins than a competitive team.
“There’s not a whole lot of money involved — it’s just for fun, so the kids feel like it’s just for fun,” Hoover says. “And, you have a very short window to not only teach them sideline cheers but to come up with a competition routine and compete within two months. It doesn’t seem like a lot when compared to competitive cheerleading, but you’re dealing with a whole different level of athletes.”
Hoover has been coaching steadily since 2006, but this will be the first gym that she’s owned. Before Fierce Athletics, she coached the Stallions out of a local dance studio.
FILLING A NEED
Sharing space in the dance studio meant sharing a space with the dancers. Although both groups practiced in separate rooms, it wasn’t the most ideal location for a competitive squad to train.
Finding anything closer than Brandon and Lakeland was a challenge, too — there’s nothing else nearby.
“The high schools, before, they were traveling to Brandon,” Hoover says. “So, all of those girls, 34 cheerleaders, were traveling to Brandon every week to do the same thing that, now, I can give them here in their hometown.”
Along with the commuting costs that rack up over time, at three to five days per week, there’s the cost of the programs themselves. Hoover estimates that, on average, a cheerleader’s family spends anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 per year. Not exactly pocket change, for most families.
That’s why Hoover decided to make Fierce Athletics a non-profit organization — to help any child’s family afford the costs.
“It opened up a door to get sponsorships,” she says. To get a tax write-off for it, so that I can give scholarships to children who really are committed to the sport but just can’t afford all of it. My biggest goal is to make this program affordable for any child who wants the opportunity to become a cheerleader.”
She wants to be able to offer scholarships to her cheerleaders, with help from sponsors. Ideally, they would be full rides — if not, then they would at least cover half of the total cost.
THE MORE, THE MERRIER
Hoover says she’s astounded by the support she’s received from Plant City. At the June 28 cheer camp she co-hosted with fellow Fierce coach Brent Higgins and the Plant City High School team, 65 aspiring cheerleaders worked on their skills in the high school’s gym.
“Plant City High School’s cheerleaders have been amazing to me,” she says. “They’ve been super supportive. I’m actually training them here in the gym as well, working on tumbling and some other things with Coach (Karen) Snapp.”
After holding team tryouts last week, Hoover got more than she ever imagined. She came in with the goal of fielding one competitive team but ended up with enough cheerleaders to field three.
“I’m going to have about three teams this year, which is amazing — I was going to be happy starting out with one team, but I have three,” she says.
The goal is to have all of the teams ready to compete by October. Hoover already has hired a professional choreographer to work on the routines next month and just needs to finish moving into the building.
“I’m determined,” she says. “I’m ready to go.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN CHEER?
Did you miss the cheer camp and tryouts? Fear not — there still may be a space available for your cheerleader.
Anyone interested in trying out can contact Lindsey Hoover directly at (813) 525-2503 or by email at Fierceathletics1@gmail.com.
Anyone ages 4-15 is welcome to try out, and cheerleaders will be assigned to teams based on their age and skill level. Children with special needs also will have a chance to compete — Hoover is also looking to start a competitive team for special-needs cheerleaders.
The gym is located at 607 Hitchcock St. and offers group, one-on-one and open gym lessons at various costs.