Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Brown.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’d cheered and coached cheerleading for over seven years before I decided to start my own program. Divine Cheer was started in hopes to bring my love for the sport to young girls at an affordable price. My husband and I began our program with just two athletes at Amity Park in Alief. Over time, our program grew from 2 to 15. Our 1st year, we competed as a recreational team as we were new to the competitive world of cheer. We achieved success and by the end of the year, we’d gained several more athletes.
Over the last eleven years, our program has grown by leaps and bounds moving from the park, to practicing at a gym in a local elementary school, to now leasing our own facility. Each year as we begin a new, most of our athlete’s come with little to no cheerleading skills and we build them as we like to say “from the ground up.” We pride ourselves on our family atmosphere and our athlete’s love coming to the gym.
As we head into our twelfth year in business, we can truly say that our athletes are able to compete with the best of the best. Our athletes have traveled to and competed in cities such as Las Vegas, Orlando, San Antonio, Dallas, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge bringing back National Championship Titles to Houston. While we don’t always win, it naturally drives us to work harder for the next competition.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Like any business, there are always hiccups along the way. When we first began our program, we practiced outside, so the weather was a huge factor. Some days it would rain and others it would be too cold to hold practice outside. Eventually, we were able to move to the local elementary school’s gym and this helped to solve the problem.
Not having a facility with proper training equipment also proved to be a huge factor when it came time to compete. To help with this, we used cones as lines to help the girls remember where they would ultimately stand and move when it came time to perform. We also began going to a local gymnastics facility where an instructor there reached out and began to show my husband how to properly train our girls when it came to basic tumbling skills.
While we are the most cost-effective program on the southwest side of Houston, there still comes a time when an athlete loves your program, but their parents can’t afford for them to participate because of the cost associated with all-star cheer. We hate losing athletes so we offer as many fundraising opportunities as we can.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Divine Cheer Explosion All-Stars – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
We are an all-star cheer program offering training for young athletes ranging from ages 3 – 21. We have competitive teams ranging from beginner(tiny) to senior(elite). We also offer tumbling classes for non all-star athletes that want to enhance their skills for school teams. We’ve had athletes come in, gain skills, and make their respective teams in local middle schools, high schools, and colleges.
While we’ve grown over the years, our athlete’s still don’t have all of the tools that large gyms have and that makes us work just that much harder. We’re proud of the success our athletes are able to bring to the competition floor week after week. As we like to say, “SmallGymBIGTalent!”
Ultimately our family feel separates from others. We always try to make our incoming athletes feel like they’ve been apart of our family forever. Our motto, “Once a Jag, Always a Jag.” #DCEFAMILY
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Divine Cheer’s future looks bright. We’re hoping to add a new level to our program this upcoming season. We’re also look to add a larger recreational tumbling program.
We’re looking forward to our program continuing to grow. We can’t wait to see our current athletes graduate with our program and move on to pursue their life goals keeping all the life lessons they’ve learned through the years in cheer with them.
Pricing:
- Monthly Tumbling Tuition: $60 per month
- Tumbling Drop In: $15 per visit
Contact Info:
- Address: 9351 Boone Road
Suites A and B
Houston, TX 77099 - Phone: 832-721-0039
- Email: DivineCheer@yahoo.com
- Instagram: DCEJAGS
- Facebook: Divine Cheer Explosion All-Stars
Image Credit:
Testimonial by parent: Tamika Davis
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