Pahrump Valley will get its first special needs cheer team this week.
The tryouts will be this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
VIP All-Star Cheer will be having their normal tryouts, but will also have tryouts for a new special needs team.
Michelle Ellsworth, cheer instructor and founder of Dance Xpressions and VIP All-Star Cheer, said she was talking to one of her dance students who inspired her to form the class. She said she had asked one of her students, Trinity Bott, who is disabled what she wanted for Christmas.
“She was four at the time and she looked at me and said she was going to ask Santa for an arm so that she could be a cheerleader,” Ellsworth said.
Ellsworth said she knows of a lot of special needs children in the area who can benefit from it. She first went to Special Olympics, but they don’t have cheer as a sport so she is just forming one on her own.
“I know we have a lot of special needs kids in the community that are looking for things to do,” the coach said.
The class will be free and Ellsworth said she is raising money through fundraisers to eliminate uniform charges. For the special needs team, everyone makes the team. She also has sponsors for the class.
VIP All-Star Cheer is finishing its first year and has 45 students in the cheer program.
“When I first started, I was the only cheer instructor and now we have grown to six new certified instructors,” she said.
The cheer season starts June 1 and they will also be having tryouts for its new prep team and the VIP squad. The prep team will take boys and girls of all ages and they will compete for two competitions and do two showcases. The school also has dance and gymnastics instructors.
For more information please call 775-764-0429.