Triston Robert is a high school cheer coach who has not graduated from high school himself.
He is a senior at Silverado High School and one of the youngest coaches for Professional Cheer Services of Las Vegas.
He came to Pahrump with two other coaches from PCS to conduct a cheer camp at Pahrump Valley High School from Aug. 7-9.
PCS teaches young cheerleaders to be safe while doing the exciting stunts you see at athletic events.
The service was started by Kelvin Alston who believes in improving high school cheerleading programs. He comes from Texas and was a graduate of the University of Texas where he participated in gymnastics and cheerleading. He has over 20 years of experience in cheer.
Alston created his traveling cheer service out of Las Vegas to provide guidance for many of the cheer programs in Nevada. They send qualified instructors to high schools to run cheer camps and they also hold in-service training for cheer coaches.
Robert said Alston is one of his biggest supporters and is a mentor. Robert has been a gymnast for 13 years and he has been a cheerleader for the past four years.
“My first year as a freshman I went to a camp,” Robert said. “The owner saw me tumbling and he took me aside and asked me what my experience was. I actually started working as a junior staff coach, and once I became 16, I was able to start taking coaching classes and I became a full coach.”
Alston said he has other coaches like Robert who started off at a young age, but he is one of the best.
“We saw Robert and became interested in him because of his gymnastics background. He kind of stood out in the crowd. He did well in our training program and has done very well as a coach,” Alston said.
Robert is very mature for his age and relies on his years of experience to get past his age.
I have been coached,” he said. “It basically is the coaches I have had over the years talking through me. Talking to the girls just comes easy because I have heard it all so many times. I think they can sense that I know what I am talking about from all my experience and I really don’t mention my age.
“The owner of PCS has taught me to be a really good coach. I want to do cheer and acrobatics for the rest of my life so having this coaching experience will really pay off.”
Where other young men might take advantage of the situation and use it to goof off, Robert takes his job seriously and maintains his focus on the job at hand.
He related a situation where he had to rush to the rescue of a young cheerleader during a class.
“I was spotting a tumbling class at the gym,” he said. “A girl went for a backtuck and stopped completely. At the last second I caught her in the air, but in doing so I sprained my back. I saved her from hitting her head on the mat. I probably saved her from a concussion and perhaps some serious neck injury. She is all good now. It’s part of the job. The reason I hurt my back was because I saw it out of the corner of my eye and I had to run to catch her. Normally back strain is not part of the catch.”
Trojans Head Cheerleading Coach Tyann James was impressed by Robert and his teaching ability and had nothing but praise for him.
She truly believes in all that PCS teaches, especially the safety which goes along with the tumbling and stunting instruction. She attends as many seminars in Las Vegas as possible. PCS makes them free to coaches once a week.