PUBLISHED BY

PRIDE CHEERLEADING ASSOCIATION

Rally! Season 2, Issue 7: October 2022

Community & Culture

October is LGBTQ+ History Month! Most catalogs of LGBTQ+ history begin with the 1969 Stonewall riots (like this one from Outwords and this one from the Making of Gay History podcast). But Billy Porter takes us 50 years prior to that in A Brief History of Queer Political Action and Author Michael Bronski, takes us all the way back to 1492 in A Queer History of the United States. So this year for LGBTQ+ History Month, PCA went back… way back… to ANCIENT HISTORY, and we’re not (anthro)polizing for it! Satori (they/them) from CHEER Colorado was our guide through some pieces of evidence of Queer History in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, and Ancient China (Part I and Part II), making the point that Queer people have been around as long as people have been around. The broader-than-binary is nothing new, but bringing it to public attention is our social responsibility today and every day.

 

In October, we also recognized:

  • International Lesbian Day - 10/8

  • Indigenous People’s Day - 10/10

  • National Coming Out Day - 10/11

  • Spirit Day - 10/20

  • ACE Week - 10/23-29

  • Intersex Awareness Day - 10/26

 

With a calendar full of reminders of PCA’s outward commitment to “the community,” that did not distract us from our inward commitment “our community.” Read on for examples of PCA supporting its Member Teams with visibility, education, resources, and opportunities for PCA volunCHEERleaders to unite and engage.

True Colors by CHEER Austin

Each issue of Rally! Season 2 contains a video feature from a different PCA Member Team. This month we feature Cheer Austin - PCA’s only Member Team (currently!) in the great state of Texas or any of its 4 adjacent states! (And YES that is a direct challenge to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana! Get your teams started and email info@pridecheerleading.org!)

Cheer Austin is a community based fundraising 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Central Texas whose primary purpose is to raise money and awareness for local non-profit groups that provide direct care services with life-threatening challenges and supports the LGBTQ+ community. It is a 100% volunteer-run adult cheerleading organization that aims to spread cheer and positivity while furthering its goal to raise money for local charity. 
 

Cheer Austin’s True Colors video gives you a glimpse into their origin story and why color choice is so important for a new cheerleading team. Here’s the exercise: Pick a color, any color. Now, what would people in YOUR community think if they saw cheerleaders wearing that color? Would they assume they were affiliated with a local high school? A university? A professional sports team? And how would the perception of that color be different in a different city?

Watch The Video

PCA News

Marketing: Our PCA Rebrand Project is nearly complete! You’ve seen and celebrated the new logo, you’re already sporting new logo gear from our link PCA ProShop, and we’ve been gathering your input on the language we use to describe PCA’s unique purpose. The final visual depiction of our brand, PCA’s “Brand House,” is in review by our Equity and Inclusion Committee this month. Feedback will be sent to the Board of Directors and the final Brand House should be published before you can say… SIN CITY CLASSIC!

 

Events: Let’s talk Sin City Classic: January 13-15, 2023, at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, PCA will participate in the 16th Sin City Classic (the largest annual LGBTQ sporting event in the world). Similarly to past years, PCA will hit the ground running at the Friday evening Welcome Party. PCA Cheerleaders will make appearances at the finals of Cornhole and Darts and will cruise the Sunset Ballroom with thousands of other LGBTQ athletes. On Saturday, we wake up bright and early to prepare an all-PCA routine, then we take our show on the road, chartering transportation to various sports where we will deliver vibrant performances and focused fundraising for our local beneficiary: Golden Rainbow. Sunday is the Charitable Cheerleading competition, where small groups showcase technical routines for a panel of judges to win medals and win your hearts with their philanthropic mission. At PCA’s  unique competition, charitable donations collected by competing cheer groups factor into the scoresheet! Stay tuned for a special surprise announcement about other PCA opportunities on Sunday! But for now, ACT FAST and reserve hotels before the opportunities vanish! Book here. Host hotels are The Flamingo, Linq, and Bally’s.

 

Education:  The PCA *Virtual* Educational Summit is back, and the theme for 2022 is: We>Me (read “We” is greater than “me”). This emphasizes the power of community and the value of the connections we make within, across, and outside our teams to our community. Summit 2022 all virtual, but it is half synchronous (topic-specific breakout meetings for key PCA groups) and half asynchronous (pre-recorded webinars for everyone) to create a variety of opportunities for PCA minds to unite online to support and develop Charitable Cheerleading. The synchronous meetings took place over the weekend of October 15-16. Highlights included: two inter-team workshops (one on maximizing remote volunteers and one coaches’ roundtable) two Events meetings (teaming up with community partners from Pride Bands Alliance and Golden Rainbow), the final PCA Rebrand Project meeting, and a customized peer counseling training by the St. Louis Queer Support Helpline (SQSH) for our PCA Equity and Inclusion Committee and Board. Coming soon, the second half, our library of asynchronous webinars. These TED Talk-style videos are for PCA, by PCA. Access instructions will be made available through your PCA Delegate. The library will be rolled out soon and will remain accessible as long as they remain relevant and useful. Topics include: inclusive language, web accessibility, cheerleading with disabilities, financial statements, systems and paperwork strategies, social media content calendars, and Cheer ASL (American Sign Language).

 

Governance: The annual PCA Board Director election process is well underway. After an open call for nominations from Sept 10 to 18, and a two-round application process through September and early October, an election was held at a closed meeting of the PCA Board on October 16. Review and ratification by the PCA Delegation will follow, and new Director Terms will begin January 1, 2023. We plan to announce our Directors Elect in next month’s Rally!

PCA Pro Shop

We love our PCA ProShop by FSP Designs! This is the ONLY place to order your NEW PCA Logo gear! Quality products - timeless and trendy! Inclusive language and labeling! And the best part is: 10% goes directly back to PCA, to help us develop, support, and unite Charitable Cheerleading teams worldwide! BONUS: New seasonal items are coming to the shop SOON!

Get Shopping
Donate To PCA

Follow Pride Cheerleading Association

Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  TikTok  |  YouTube

3556 S 5600 W #1-438 Salt Lake City, UT 84120

Meet Pride Cheerleading Association  
This email was created with Wix.‌ Discover More