Kathy Gilbert | Health Watch

Eight girls shifted pompoms and shouted out spirit yells earlier this week at the city's Camp CheerAbility for girls with physical, emotional or cognitive disabilities.

"Go, G-O, Go Lookouts Go," the girls chanted, punching pompoms and shifting them into low and high V shapes.

Besides learning cheers and routines, the girls will perform as Chattanooga Spirit at the Chattanooga Lookouts game against the Huntsville Stars at 7:15 p.m. Friday at AT&T Field downtown.

"It's great. I think it'll bring them out of their shell and give them a little bit more self-esteem. And even though they're having fun, they're getting therapy, too," said Tyra Stalling, a LaFayette, Ga., resident who brought her niece Savannah Abbott, 9, and daughter Ashton Stalling, 6, to the camp.

Held at the city's Fitness Center at Warner Park, the camp offers coordination and balance training, social opportunities and social skills training to girls with disabilities, Coach Lizzy Hockinson said.

During the camp, exercises are adapted to a range of conditions, which included autism, paralysis and cerebral palsy.

At the first class, eight girls practiced formations, chants and cheers under the direction of Coach Hockinson and six high-school-age assistants.

Cheerleading, the girls were told, begins with spirit.

"Be loud, be happy and smile," Coach Hockinson called out cheerfully.

After a stretching session, the girls learned formations, chants and cheers.

"The Chattanooga Spirit is who we are, we're cheering for the Lookouts so they will go far," the girls yelled out.

Whether the girls were sitting, kneeling or standing, their words were matched with traditional cheerleader arm moves, such as the "broken T" (hands together at the chest, elbows out to sides), low V (arms straight down, meeting at the wrists) and high V (arms in a victory sign over the head).

"It's fun. I like the pompoms -- you can shake them -- and I like to cheer," said Regan McCommon, a homeschooled student with autism and reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a chronic nerve disorder.

The pompoms were also her favorite part of the first class, said Savannah Abbott, who is partially paralyzed.

Michelle Sartin of Whitwell, Tenn., said her daughter, Lydia, a 12-year-old Jasper (Tenn.) Middle School student with cerebral palsy, also seemed to enjoy the camp.

"The city here has a good program -- we don't have anything like this in Marion County," Mrs. Sartin said. "This gives Lydia an opportunity to be with other children and have new experiences."

Coach Hockinson said the girls' first go at cheerleading rocked.

"I'm really impressed; they're doing really good," she said.

Helper Alex Cheek, a 15-year-old former cheerleader for David Brainerd Christian School in East Brainerd, said the class taught her new skills, too.

"I wanted to help with the kids, and when Lydia learned a new motion, it was exciting -- like I succeeded, too," she said.