Cheering with special needs squad is life-altering for local girl

“In the world of The Charmers there is no such thing as a disability. When they’re together they can do things they would never think they could do alone.” –Kristi Hay

By Chelsey Hinsenkamp

SLN Staff

“There was not a dry eye in the house.”

That’s the way Kristi Hay of Elkhorn remembers the performance put on by her daughter’s cheer team The Charmers at the Cheerleading World Competition last April.

There is something very “special” about this particular team that brought the audience to tears – the team is composed solely of girls and boys with special needs ranging from Down syndrome to cerebral palsy.

Kristi’s daughter Brianna has Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), a condition she was born with that makes it nearly impossible for her to communicate vocally. Try as she might, most of her words come out as isolated sounds or mere grunts.

Kristi, her husband Paris and son Ethan, 11, believe that despite her condition, 8-year-old Brianna is a social butterfly who wants nothing more than for everyone else to be just as happy as she is.

“She just wants to help people … That is probably her best feature. She just wants to make people happy,” Kristi said.

Brianna was also born with craniosynostosis, which is a condition that causes the soft spot on the head of an infant to close before it should, restricting growth of the brain.

Brianna underwent surgery at age 3 during which a piece of her skull was removed to correct the problem.

Originally some of her developmental delays caused the doctors to diagnose her as having a form of autism, according to Kristi, but they quickly changed their minds after realizing how social Brianna was, and how other aspects of her personality simply didn’t fit the diagnosis.

“At the beginning it was hard to figure out what her disorder actually was,” Kristi explained. And after surgeries, series of genetic tests, and therapy of all varieties, the Hay family was finally given the diagnosis of CAS and developmental delays.

With all the confusion and trouble diagnosing Brianna, the family was having a difficult time trying to find a place where Brianna would fit in.

That’s when The Charmers Cheer Team was mentioned to Kristi by Gail Kopp, who she initially met through one of Brianna’s therapists.

Gail explained to Kristi that The Charmers is a cheerleading team especially for boys and girls ages 6 and older with special needs. She told her the team is based out of Ringwood, Ill., where they meet for practice at Layton Athletics Club.

Gail’s daughter Elizabeth has Smith Magenis syndrome. Gail claims that signing her daughter up for The Charmers proved to be beneficial, and thought it might also have the same impact on Brianna.

Kristi wasn’t sure

“I was kind of in denial thinking this (Brianna’s condition) is just a temporary thing, this is going to go away. It took me maybe five years to accept that this was going to be a lifetime thing,” Kristi explained.

When Brianna was nearly 6, Kristi said she finally accepted her condition as a permanent one, so she decided to give The Charmers a try, noting that she had very little luck finding anywhere else where Brianna could find her niche.

But it wasn’t easy at first.

“We almost quit a few months into the first year. She wasn’t used to being with a lot of people,” Kristi explained. “She was still very, very attached to me.”

But with the encouragement of Gail, who had since grown to be a close friend, along with the other moms of kids on the team, Kristi stuck it out.

“At the beginning I would have to go out with her during practice and stand by her,” Kristi said. In time though, Brianna became more comfortable with the group.

“By last year, she was fine with it … She would run into the back room. I don’t have to be with her, she knows they’re her friends,” Kristi said.

And when it came to performance time, Kristi said it was then she knew for sure that the group was good for Brianna.

“Once she actually got out on the stage and was with her friends and was doing the performing, she had this huge smile on her face and you could tell that she was loving it,” Kristi explained.

Kristi said a typical practice for the team is, well, “interesting.”

With 14 girls and four boys, all with a wide variety of disabilities, each practice presents new challenges.

And the team always manages to overcome them.

“The beginning of the season they just work out the basics … how to do the jumps, where to be standing,” Kristi explained. But as the season progresses the team learns a routine.

Brianna was chosen to be a flyer. That means she is one of the cheerleaders who gets lifted off the ground and into the air by the other teammates.

Kristi recalled being a bit concerned when she first heard of her daughter’s new role on the team.

“The first time they told me she was a flyer, I said ‘She’s a what!’”

But with high school cheerleaders volunteering as junior coaches, and one being present for every two Charmers at practice, Kristi had little to worry about.

After a year of Brianna taking part in the practices and performing in front of modest size audiences, the team set a goal to make it to the Cheerleading World Competition, which features about 400 teams from more than 40 countries.

The goal was to get to the annual competition held at Disney World in Orlando for the 2011 event.

The only barrier that stood in the team’s way was the money. With around $36,000 to raise, it was no small feat.

“We spent probably a good year doing the fundraising,” Kristi recalled.

The Charmers quickly found that the support from all over was overwhelming, and Kristi found the same was true locally.

Starbucks in Delavan donated coffee for a fundraiser. Sentry, Varsity Deli and Soleil Café, all in Elkhorn, allowed the team to sell candy bars to raise money at the establishments.

Popeye’s in Lake Geneva allowed the team to do a fundraising dinner, which People’s Bank of Elkhorn even paid for their employees to attend.

They sold Mr. Z’s Pizza and held other fundraising dinners. The team worked tirelessly to reach its goal.

The Charmers eventually raised the funds to make the trip, and Kristi said it was an experience that all of the children benefitted from, and that none of them will ever forget.

More than a medal

The Charmers was the only special needs team at the competition, and with all the hard work they had put in, they earned the title of World Champions performing to the song “Firework” by Katy Perry, the lyrics of which the team found inspirational.

But the kids gained a lot more from the experience than trophies and medals.

Kristi said the best thing about The Charmers is watching the friendships between teammates develop and grow. She said Brianna has made a lot of close friends on the team.

“I love seeing her so happy,” Kristi explained. “Just to have friends that love having her there. You can just see their faces light up when they see her.”

She also pointed out the confidence that the children, and especially Brianna, have gained since finding a place on the team.

“She (Brianna) has gained a lot of independence through this, and yeah, definitely the confidence,” Kristi said. “Before, I don’t even think she would have attempted some of these things.”

Kristi said the friendships she has made with some of the other mothers have also been life changing.

She said having other mothers of children with similar needs to talk with and to support her when she and Brianna need it most has meant the world to her.

Last year’s performance at the World Competition garnered the team a lot of attention, so this year’s team is a bit bigger with 17 girls and 4 boys participating.

The Charmers first performance for the 2012 season is set for Saturday, Oct. 6 in Milwaukee for the Wild Badger Challenge held at the Frontier Airlines Center.

Kristi said she is so grateful for all that The Charmers have done for Brianna and their family.

“In the world of The Charmers there is no such thing as a disability,” she said. “When they’re together they can do things they would never think they could do alone.

“Being with this group she’s (Brianna) realized that having a disability doesn’t define who you are and you can still do good things, and make a difference in your community.”