Cheer and Dance Competition Draws Crowds to Erie Insurance Arena - Erie News Now | WICU & WSEE in Erie, PA

Cheer and Dance Competition Draws Crowds to Erie Insurance Arena

The Erie Insurance Arena was home to the Lake Erie National Cheer and Dance Championships this weekend.

This annual event brought thousands of athletes to Erie which is a big help to our economy. 

Close to 200 teams competed in various cheer and dance competitions.

Shaura Rodgers, with the Cleveland Rising Stars Academy of Cheer and Dance said, "We have been coming for almost ten years, and we love it. My kids love it. My parents love it. Overall, amazing"

Cleveland Rising Stars Academy of Cheer and Dance came from Ohio, one of the six states that were represented this weekend. As Rodgers explained, "It's great for the kids to travel to different areas because it's all about the experience for me. It's about the experience for them. It's about the experience for as the event producers."

Teams traveled from all over the region, for the final competition of the Champion Cheer Central season including Rachel's Tumbling who traveled from Sharon to compete this weekend.

Rachel Royer or Rachel's Tumbling explained, "We love going local with CCC. We like, you know, we go to area with them Pittsburgh. So we try to keep it close to home. But this year we're going to Florida."

In between competitions, Royer said she likes to explore the communities they are in. "We'll look at restaurants. We saw some hotels around here. We like to visit little museums and stuff. So that's the nice thing about cheer is you get to see new places and I do a bunch of things", said Royer.

The Champion Cheer Central season began in November of 2022 in Erie and organizers said it's fitting, they end their season here.
Heather Petz, the President of Champion Cheer Central said, "These teams that they've just been working so hard all year on, their athleticism is amazing and what they do out there. And they've been working all year to get to this point. So this is a lot of they're like grand finale for the season."