Latest news with #NationalCheerleadersAssociation
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘It was terrifying': Clay County cheer coach speaks out after stampede at NCA National Championship
A Clay County cheer coach is speaking out for the first time after successfully getting his 50+ students to safety during a stampede at the annual National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) National Championship on Saturday. The chaos erupted when a fight broke out among parents, triggering a panic among the crowd. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] According to the coach, he was able to keep all of his cheerleaders and staff out of harm's way, all while bringing home a trophy. The tense situation lasted for three hours, and coach Jonathan Pol, who is also the owner of Island All-Stars in Clay County, described it as terrifying. Despite the danger, Pol was able to guide his team to safety. 'I'm never gonna let their faces leave my mind. It was terrifying,' said Lori McLeod, a staff member. Pol was with his 50+ cheerleaders at the competition in Dallas when he saw the stampede forming. At first, he didn't know what it was, but he knew immediate action was necessary. 'We just saw a stampede coming. At the time, we didn't know what it was,' Pol explained. In the midst of the chaos, his priority was clear. 'Our focus was get out and get the kids out,' he said. Pol explained that he had trained his cheerleaders and staff for situations like this. 'Every year we do staff training. My favorite training that I teach is emergency management. We do active shooters, bomb threats, and first aid CPR,' Pol said. As the stampede intensified, Pol and his staff worked quickly, pulling as many children as possible out of harm's way. 'We're grabbing as many kids as we can. We don't know who they are, where they're from. Some are alone. We're just grabbing them. Let's go, let's go. Hurry!' said McLeod. Pol confirmed that they helped anyone in sight, regardless of which gym they were from. 'Anyone we saw, we got out,' he added. According to Dallas police, the panic was triggered by a fight between two people, which led to multiple poles being knocked over. The noise caused widespread panic inside the building, prompting people to rush outside in a stampede. Despite the frightening events, Pol's team managed to secure a first-place trophy for their division the following day. 'We sure did. Look at it. We sure did,' Pol said, proudly showing the trophy. Eva Hartwell, a staff member, reflected on the lessons of the day. 'My job is to make them champions, and if I'm brave enough to stand next to them the next day, then I have to be brave enough to go back with them,' she said. Pol expressed his relief that all of his cheerleaders made it out safely, crediting his training and quick actions for their safety. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Yahoo
Fargo athletes and families caught up in shooting scare at cheer competition in Texas
Mar. 2—DALLAS — Cheer athletes and their families from the Fargo area attending a national competition in Texas over the weekend got caught up in a scare over a possible active shooter. The incident happened at the National Cheerleaders Association All-Star National Championship in Dallas, an event featuring more than 1,700 teams from across the country, on Saturday, March 1. Ultimately, it was not a shooting but a fight among two parents that led to a massive police response at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, local media reported. During the fight, multiple large poles were knocked down, creating loud noises and sparking chaos among the crowds that had gathered. Katie Brown, 13, of Fargo, was with her parents getting ready to compete for North Dakota Elite, a cheer club in Fargo. "I didn't know that there wasn't a shooter, because I felt like I could actually hear the shots," she told The Forum. Chad Brown said he, his wife and daughter had only been in the convention center for about 15 minutes early Saturday afternoon and were standing in a public area with Katie and a friend, tending to her hair before her competition. Suddenly, the family turned around to see people running and wondered if they were rushing to meet a famous person at the competition. "Then you can hear the screaming and you can hear the yelling, and you know it's not a good thing," Chad Brown said. He said around that same time, a person in the crowd might have had a seizure. "Somebody might have yelled 'seizure' out loud and people maybe heard 'shooter.' That's when everybody just got up, got caught up in the panic, and just started running," he said. The family got separated for a while, but Katie and her friend managed to stay together. "We ran through this disgusting muddy field with our white cheer shoes. We were both separated from our parents. I was the older one, so I just took care of her, I guess," Katie Brown said. Her parents used Life 360 and an air tag attached to their daughter's cheer bag to track her down in 20 to 25 minutes at a parking lot where some attendees had gathered. "Just being able to get connected to her was really all that mattered," Chad Brown said. Mary Anderson, of Fargo, daughter Ava, 11, and one of Ava's friends were also among the crowd at the convention center Saturday afternoon in Dallas. Ava Anderson also trains at North Dakota Elite but was not competing this weekend. Instead, she was there to get inspired by the older, higher level athletes taking part. They had just gotten to their seats and watched one team perform when Anderson got an ominous message. "I got a text message from her friend's mom that said active shooter, hide. I grabbed the girls," Anderson said. They rushed to a closed section of the arena and found a men's bathroom to hide in. Eventually, they could hear police and security officers on walkie-talkies, who escorted the three out and into a large room. There, Anderson grabbed folding chairs and put them over the girls as a protective measure and anxiously waited. When they were able to leave the convention center, they saw people who'd been hurt from being trampled. Local police said ten people were taken to hospitals for injuries ranging from bruises to fractures. The cheer competition was shut down as soon as the incident began and it wasn't until later Saturday it was determined it would resume Sunday morning. Anderson had nothing but praise for the coaches of North Dakota Elite, who determined they would compete on Sunday. Some teams elected to pull out of the competition. "I could not be more proud of how they talked through things. They did everything they could do, and really took into consideration everybody's feelings," Anderson said. When Katie Brown went back to the convention center with her North Dakota Elite teammates Sunday morning, she said it was an "almost traumatic" area to be in. That feeling, however, quickly faded. "I feel like competing made it better. It made it less scary," she said.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ozarks teams safe after shooting fears lead to evacuations at cheerleading championship
DALLAS — Multiple competitive cheerleading teams from the Ozarks were at the National Cheerleaders Association All-Star National Championship in Dallas, Texas when fears of a shooting led to injuries and evacuations. The Dallas Police Department says they were called to the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center — where the cheerleading championship was taking place — for reports of an active shooter at about 1 p.m. Police later determined that there was no active shooter. A preliminary investigation into the incident by Dallas police found that a fight between two people caused multiple poles to be knocked down. The poles made a loud noise when they fell over, leading to panic and a stampede as visitors rushed outside. CBS News Texas says around 58,000 people were expected at the event, including athletes and coaches. Ozark Empire Fairgrounds hosts 36th annual mega RV show in Springfield DPD says there were multiple non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the incident, and Dallas Fire-Rescue says 10 people were transported to the hospital. A family reunification center was set up on 400 Lamar Street. Multiple competitive cheer teams in the Ozarks were at the competition, including Icon Cheer in Springfield, Summit Atheltix in Ozark, Gold Medal Gems All-Star Cheer in Republic and more. Facebook posts from Summit Athletix and Gold Medal Gems reassured fans that everyone on their teams was okay. Security officials with the National Cheerleaders Association are assisting police in investigating the incident, according to CBS News Texas. The cheerleading championship is expected to continue on Sunday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fight, stampede cause evacuation of thousands at Dallas cheer competition, police say
A fight between two individuals at a Dallas cheerleading competition prompted a stampede and the evacuation of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on Saturday, Dallas police said. The convention center is the site of the National Cheerleaders Association's 2025 national championship. The incident was originally reported to police as a possible active-shooter situation, but the investigation later determined that a fight led to multiple poles being knocked down which made a loud noise, police said. The noise caused a panic inside the building as attendees stampeded for the exits, officials said. Video obtained by WFAA-TV shows parents and children fleeing the convention center. Over 30,000 athletes were in town for the competition, according to WFAA. Several people suffered non-life threatening injuries as a result of the stampede and no shooting occurred, Dallas police said in a statement. The remainder of the day's competition has been suspended, according to a post on the National Cheerleaders Association's Facebook page. The convention center was evacuated as a precaution, and a family reunification center has been established at 400 North Lamar Street. It was not immediately clear whether anyone had been arrested.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fight inside Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center causes chaos, suspension of NCA cheer event
The Brief A fight between two people during a cheerleading event in downtown Dallas led to panic and the evacuation of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Dallas police said the two people knocked over poles that created a loud noise and there were multiple non-life-threatening injuries as people ran from the event. The National Cheerleaders Association canceled the rest of Saturday's events. DALLAS - Two people knocked over "multiple poles" during a fight causing a loud noise and panic inside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Saturday afternoon, Dallas police said. What we know The convention center is hosting the NCA All-Star National Championship this weekend. In a statement, Dallas police said the noise of the poles being knocked down caused a panic inside the building and people to start rushing outside "in a stampede." Authorities said no shooting occurred. Video sent to FOX 4 shows several people running from the area. The rush of people caused multiple non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the chaos, police said. Dallas police set up a family reunification center at 400 Lamar Street. The incident prompted the National Cheerleaders Association to cancel the rest of Saturday's event. What they're saying Varsity Brands, the company behind the NCA, released the following statement about the incident: "Earlier today, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center was evacuated as a precaution based on reports of a safety concern. NCA security officials immediately began working with the Dallas Police Department to quickly investigate, which found that the incident was triggered by an altercation between two attendees, which led to panic and multiple non-life-threatening injuries in the aftermath. We want to thank the Dallas Police Department for their help assessing and controlling the situation as well as the first responders who assisted those impacted. "As a precaution, we suspended activities for today and will continue to work with event staff and local authorities to ensure a safe environment for our athletes to finish competing when we resume tomorrow." What we don't know Police have not said if anyone was arrested for the fight. The NCA has not announced a revised schedule for the events that were canceled Saturday afternoon. 3:41 p.m. - Dallas police said a fight between two people led to poles being knocked down and a panic inside the convention center. They said multiple people were hurt during the chaos but none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening. 2:45 p.m. - DART is resuming normal train operations. They're warning of possible delays to the regular schedule. 2:35 p.m. - Dallas Police confirmed there is no active shooter at the convention center. 2:15 p.m. - The National Cheerleaders Association says competition has been suspended for the rest of the day. DART says that passengers may experience delays due to police activity in the area. This is a developing story. Check back with FOX 4 for updates. The Source Information on the the incident at the convention center came from Dallas police. Information on the cancelation of Saturday's events came from the Nation Cheerleaders Association.
