Kemptville teen joins Ottawa 67’s cheer and dance team

By Kelly Kent
Kemptville Advance
Dec 04, 2014

In Canada, where hockey has sometimes been likened to a religion, cheering for one’s favourite hockey team can feel like a profession.

For one Kemptville teen, cheering for the local Ontario Hockey League (OHL) team has become exactly that, when she became a member of the Ottawa 67’s Cheer and Dance Team in October.

Kera Briggs, 16, has been dancing for most of her life. Starting when she was just eight years old, she continued to excel in styles like pointe, jazz and hip hop until she decided to take her skill to the competitive level last year.

Since then, Briggs has been thinking about the future of her dance career, and so when she saw the ad from the Ottawa 67’s Cheer and Dance Team recruiting new members, she decided to apply.

“I thought, ‘Why not?'” she said in an interview last week. “I thought it would be fun, if I could cheer with them as part of the team.”

After just one audition with the girls of the team, Briggs was in. She was now a uniform-wearing, pom-pom-carrying cheer squad member, and would begin her training in the 28 routines the girls perform at home games on a regular basis.

As a Grade 11 student at North Grenville District High School with a full plate of academics, extra-curricular activities and the vital social life of a young adult, Briggs doesn’t have a lot of time to spare. However, she says the opportunity to cheer for the Ottawa 67’s is worth it all.

“It’s really fun,” she said. “I like being at the games and going to the events. The fans are always really great.”

Though Briggs isn’t paid to be a member of the cheer and dance team, she can use the hours she spends with the team towards her mandatory 40 hours of volunteer work necessary to graduate high school – and with the time she dedicates to the team, Briggs says it can sometimes feel like a job.

Busy schedule After it was decided that she would become a member of the team, Briggs did a series of training sessions with the coach, who is the captain of the cheerleading team for the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks. During those three weeks, Briggs learned all of the routines the girls usually perform, committing them all to memory for future use.

In addition to regular practises, Briggs and the nine other girls on her team (of whom she is the youngest) spend most Friday and Saturday nights at the Ottawa 67’s home rink at TD Place, cheering on the team and encouraging fans to do the same. Sometimes, there will be a weekday game to attend as well – and then there are the events.

Like most hockey teams, the Ottawa 67’s attend a number of community events, such as golf tournaments, parades, and Little League games. Most of these, like the kids’ day Briggs was recently at, are attended by the cheer and dance team as well. At events like these, Briggs and her team perform in front of crowds of 10,000 people or more, something that she says is exhilarating.

“The kids really love seeing us perform,” Briggs said, laughing. “Afterwards they come up to us and want to take pictures with us. It’s almost like being a celebrity.”

While the Ottawa 67’s Cheer and Dance Team doesn’t perform stunts like a traditional cheer squad and instead opts for elaborate dance routines with props, Briggs said she’s interested in spearheading a team like that for her school. She’s now working on starting a cheerleading team at her high school, recruiting students from grades 9 to 12 to join her.

“I hope we can get to enter competitions next year,” she said, “but for now we’ll probably just practise. It all depends on how many students are interested.”

In the near future, after Briggs graduates high school, she says she has plans to have a career in dance. She’s looked into becoming a dance teacher, maybe, so she can pass her talents on to others.

For now though, Briggs is looking forward to what she’ll be doing with the Ottawa 67’s over the next few months. She cheered at her first game at the end of October, and will be continuing to cheer at all of the upcoming games this season.

“If you’re at a game, look for me in the stands,” Briggs said. “I’ll be there, cheering my butt off.”