East Mississippi Cheerleading out of Meridian, Mississippi took the stage at the 2019 UCA Dixie Championship for the first time this season with three teams! EMC is owned by Mississippi State University cheerleading alumni, Laura Posey.

Posey always instills cleanliness in all of her teams routines and the Mini Level 1 team, Jaguars took a step in the right direction out on the mat today! The EMC Jaguars are head coached by Janetta Fortner.

Fortner has been a coach at East Mississippi Cheerleading for quite a while and she continues to pass down to her athletes what owner Laura Posey taught her as a coach.

“As a coach she brings her experience with competing on a competitive team that focused on cleanliness and technique to her teams,” said Posey. “She really is a huge part of how our younger athletes develop, and proper development is the most important part of an athletes growth.” 

The Level 1 team might be mini, but they’re mighty! Posey had a few goals set for the Jags this weekend, and they didn’t disappoint.

“With this being our first competition, our goal was to go out there, hit and complete start to finish,” said Posey. “Especially with them being a mini team, we just wanted them to go out there and handle the pressure of an audience, the judges, the loud music and other distractions.”

“The biggest thing for our gym and this age group would be growth,” said Posey. “Right now we have about 80% of our athletes that can do back walkovers and front walkovers as far as tumbling. We would like to hit the 100% mark.”

While the Jaguars accomplished their goal today, Posey says there’s still areas of improvement she would like to see.

“We definitely want to get stronger in stunt technique,” said Posey. “I am a strong believer in technique. With stunting we are hitting the low-high range, and I would like all of our groups hitting the high range of elite skills for their age group. I want to see them get a good grasp of basic technique.”

At this age, if you create a strong technique background, it will take you far as you grow in your cheerleading career. - Laura Posey

Gym Owner, Laura Posey and head Jaguars coach Janetta Fortner are proud of the performance that the Mini Level 1 team competed today, and they’re excited about the teams upcoming season!

“I thought that they were our strongest team today from start to finish,” said Posey “because they did go out and hit their whole entire routine. With this mini age group, we have a lot of kids that are brand new to all stars. I was really impressed with how they went out there and handled the competition environment.

From their very first competition this weekend to their last, I just want to see them grow overall. - Laura Posey

Follow the East Mississippi Cheerleading Jaguars at their next competition in Biloxi, Mississippi at CHEERSPORT on January 11^th!