Being an All Star Cheer Mom

Being a All-Star Cheer Mom


“How much different can All-Star cheerleading be from the competitive dance we have been involved with for many years with both of my daughters?”, I asked myself when my daughter Lucy decided to try out for the All-Star Cheer squad at Coastal Georgia Athletics after an unsuccessful try-out for middle school cheerleading (that’s a whole other story). The answer? Very different, oh so very different in every way possible.

After signing on the dotted line-yes, it is a financial and time commitment-we began our journey into the world of competitive All-Star Cheer. Matt Gay, the owner of Coastal Georgia Athletics explains the difference between traditional school cheer and All-Star cheer, “School cheer’s main focus is usually on game day crowd leading and supporting the team playing and All-Star cheer is all about the routine and the competition. In All-stars we focus on jumps, stunts, tumbling, motions and dance to put together the most competitive routine we can to present at competitions.”

All-star teams are divided into five different levels depending on the skills presented. The Level defines which stunts and tumbling are allowed into the routine. Coastal Georgia Athletics currently has a Senior Level Two team that incorporates back hand-springs, shoulder level stunts, and two person high pyramids and a Junior Level One team that can include walkovers, cartwheels, and one leg stunts below shoulder level. CGA also has a mini team of little girls eight and under that do basic tumbling and dance in their routine.

After spending months of hard core practicing two to three times a week that included sore muscles, new skill levels, and yes a few tears, CGA Senior Black and Junior Blue All-Star teams were ready to compete in their first competition. I have been to many dance competitions in my tenure as a parent to two girls, but nothing prepared me for our first All-Star cheer competition at the Orange Park High School gym in Jacksonville. My husband Jim and I had packed our bags with snacks, water, Ipods, and lots of reading material to wait out the time between performing and awards. Boy, were we in the wrong place for our carefully packed bags we had taken many times to dance competitions. As we entered the gym, you could hear the music blaring and the feet stomping of the All-Star group that was currently performing. In front of the girls cheering was a blocked off area in front of the spring floor where supporters were enthusiastically screaming out for their favorite cheerleader and holding signs of support to their team. To my surprise, as the cheer group finished their routine, the supporters filed out of the area and the next group filed on. Wow, this was amazing to me. We got to be right in front and see our kids perform in all of their glory and scream out to our hearts content. The uncomfortable bleacher seating and loud music made up for the level of excitement that the competition gave to the performer and the spectator.

We have been to other competitions since then that have had much better seating arrangements, but the constant is the pure excitement and thrill that the competitions give from the minute you walk into the room. They have the feel of a dance party complete with the DJ and dance contests to fill the time between the routines and the awards. All-in-all it is a great time. It is fun to watch the other teams compete, especially the teams in the higher skill levels. As a parent your heart drops every time you see a girl your daughters age do a double back hand spring pass with a tuck, but you also wish your child could perform one.

Coastal Georgia Athletics is the dream of owner Matt Gay. Matt has been involved in teaching tumbling since high school and was a cheerleader at Mercer University for his entire college career. After working for other gyms in the area he really wanted to introduce competitive All-Star cheerleading to the Golden Isles in a big way. His goal is to have competition teams spanning all age ranges and levels. He also wants to be able to help aspiring college cheerleaders become prepared to try out for their college teams and possibly receive a scholarship. Yes, you heard right parents. Your daughter or son could get a scholarship to cheer. Coastal Georgia Athletics also has classes in tumbling and cheer jumps year round. Matt will also be offering a class to prepare girls for school cheer tryouts.

All-Star cheerleading teaches girls a myriad of skills. As far as athleticism goes, All-Star cheer promotes exercise and training to achieve the skills needed to compete. The girls learn tumbling, jumps, stunts, and dance moves in order to complete a competitive routine. Most importantly they begin to develop a sense of responsibility towards their teammates, discipline, understanding teamwork, and the fulfillment of achieving a goal. These are all traits that lead to successful adults.


Coastal Georgia Athletics also has two other coaches that help Matt prepare the teams for competition. Bobby Minter and Mylyn Landinguin.
Bobby Minter has been involved in coaching tumbling and cheer for many years. He began as a competitive gymnast and coach and then began working with All-Star cheer at Cheer Camden. He moved to CGA two years ago when he was offered an opportunity to help Matt Gay develop and build a new program. Bobby is both a coach and a parent at CGA. His daughters Rachel and Cory have both cheered for CGA.

Mylyn Landinguin is the CGA coach that choreographs the team’s routines for competition. She has been involved in All-Star cheerleading for fourteen years. During high school and college, she competed on a National Champion team, the Top Gun Lady Jags. After participating for several years, she began coaching for the team. Mylyn has worked for the Cheerleaders of America Dance and Cheer Company in Dallas, Texas where she judged competitions and staffed cheer camps throughout the United States. She moved to the Brunswick area two years ago after her husband joined the coaching staff at Glynn Academy.

Our family’s experience with All-Star cheer at Coastal Georgia Athletics has been great. It has been a great family to join. We have created lasting bonds with the girls, the parents and the coaches. Spending the day at a competition like we did on Valentines Day in Savannah where all three teams were victorious, just adds the icing on the cake.

As of May 2010, the Senior Black and Junior Blue both won two National titles. One in Charleston, South Carolina and one in Orlando, Florida.

Coastal Georgia Athletics is located in downtown Brunswick at 1303 Grant Street.
Please contact Matt Gay if you are interested in checking it all out at
912-265-1445 or go to coastalgaathletics.com to see pictures and videos of the teams.