Owner Denise Adams, who has been coaching cheerleading and tumbling in Xenia for roughly two decades, said the transition from a 7,000-square-foot garden center on U.S. 42 to a 9,000-square-foot storefront is a welcome change for her roughly 150 students.
“Now we’re in town, we have a perfect spot,” she said. “We want people to know that there are things for kids to do in Xenia. That’s our ultimate goal, is to try to find things for the kids.”
Celebrity Athletics teaches kids in cheer and tumbling from age three up through high school, as well as some adult classes.
Teams form in May and start practicing in June. Competitions run from November to April, and if teams qualify, travel to Disney World in Florida for world championships.
13-year-old Jalyanah Pope started tumbling when she was six years old, and went on the trip to Florida last year.
“I like to see the other teams’ performances and how good they are,” she said.
Competition cheer teams from high schools and middle schools across the Miami Valley also rent space from the gym for their own training. The school’s “Exceptional Athletes” hip-hop dance team, which is comprised of children with special needs, is a four-time world champion in hip-hop dance, Adams said.
In addition to cheer and tumbling, girls are learning life skills when they walk through Celebrity Athletics’ doors.
“The biggest thing I want kids to take away from being in the program is a lot of teamwork, and building their own self respect. It sets the goal for them when they become an adult,” Adams said. “They understand how to work with other people, and it makes them better human beings.”
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