Middleboro Mavericks stand out in season’s first cheerleading showcase

The youngest Middleboro Mavericks youth cheerleading team hit the stage Sunday, Nov. 23 to show off the cartwheels and stunts they’ve been practicing since July.

“They did so good,” said coach Kaitlyn Rouillier. “For a lot of them it was their first time ever competing in any sort of cheerleading.”

The mavericks compete out of the YMCA in Middleboro and the program has three teams for different age brackets. The youngest team, composed of five and six-year-olds, showed off their routine at the Wareham Tigers Cheer Athletics annual showcase held at Wareham High School.

Preparation for the showcase included practice twice a week focusing on technical skills like tumbling, jumping and putting the routine together as well as lots of teambuilding.

“We work on not only their performance but their confidence and team building,” said Morgan Pritchard, senior program director at the Middleboro YMCA. 

Both Pritchard and Rouillier said they have already seen their four-child team form strong connections with one another.

“They love coming to practice whether we’re working on their routine, making pins, decorating — they just love being together,” Rouillier said.

So far this season, six-year-old Timothy Hayes said his favorite part of the season has been learning different stunts.

“Yeah I like cartwheels,” Timothy said.

Next up for the young mavericks is competition season. Their first of five competitions is in Providence, Rhode Island Dec. 13 and 14.

“We’ve been fundraising since July for our final goal which is to get to nationals in Florida,” Rouillier said.