Culpeper Blue Angels youth cheer team prepares for new season
CULPEPER, Va. — Culpeper Blue Angels (CBA) has been a part of the Culpeper community for over 22 years. “We pride ourselves on a small gym, big family mentality,” said co-president and coach Ashley Berman. CBA is an organization that believes in family and community. They strive to be a safe place to empower athletes. Working together with Ashley who served as Tiny Novice Cheer Coach, are Stephanie Cropp-Head (All-star Cheer Coach), Amie Henry (Assistant All-star Cheer Coach), and Payton Ingham (Assistant Tiny Novice Cheer Coach). Coach Ashley observed, “We value perseverance and determination while fostering teamwork and accountability.” CBA promotes community involvement opportunities. “We are honored to represent Culpeper in a positive way.” CBA fosters an environment that inspires and encourages each individual athlete with an unwavering commitment to excellence.
CBA is eager to start another amazing season with two teams competing this year. “We are bringing back our Tiny Team for ages 3-6 competing within a Novice division,” Coach Ashley explained. “Our returning athletes plus some new ones are forming the All-star team for the year.” Although their goal is to have a winning season, Coach Ashley explained they CBA is focused on creating a team that does its best and always works together.
This year CBA has introduced the Big/Little Program to build closer relationships and unity among teammates of all ages. “The athletes are assigned a big or little athlete to “adopt” for the year. Notes of encouragement or goodies are left for one another throughout the season to help strengthen those bonds and boost morale,” said Coach Ashley. She continued, “We are hopeful that the more seasoned athletes will serve as mentors to the newer team members, making them feel like they have someone to go to.”
Besides tight bonds between the athletes, CBA fosters a family environment. At the onset of the season, we hosted an ice cream social to welcome everyone to the team. We wanted to provide the families of our athletes with an opportunity to interact before the competitions get started. “We host several events throughout the year for our athletes to bond as well as have some much-deserved fun. After the competition season has concluded, we host an end-of-the-year event for athletes as well as their families to celebrate a job well done.”
At every competition the team forms a huddle and engages in “mat talk” just before they go on the floor. Coach Ashley explained why this time is important, “This ritual goes a long way in encouraging them immediately before they go on stage.”
Although our athletes are hard at work over the summer, competitions don’t start until November. Greatness in sports can only come when you push yourself beyond what you think are your limits. Coach Ashley told me how this applies to CBA, “Our choreographer has challenged the athletes to perform a routine that is outside of their comfort zones. This in turn has motivated our team to work harder than ever to achieve excellence.” Competing well is the only way to earn a “bids”. A bid is an invitation to compete, and it must be earned through competing at an event that offers them. The ONE Cheer and Dance Finals are annual invitation-only end of season events that in take place several locations around the country. Last year CBA received a bid and attended The ONE in Orlando, FL.
One last thing Coach Ashley wanted to mention. “Since tumbling has become such a big part of the cheer world, we offer tumbling classes for all levels.” These classes are available to anyone in the community, regardless of cheer team participation. This is a great way to get your child introduced to the gym. Additionally, it can provide an environment to excel if they are working on skills for their recreation or school teams. CBA also offers cheer fundamentals classes throughout the year and weekly cheer camps during the summer.
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