Cheers for Anna!

Anna Landre is an eight-year-old cheerleader for Pop Warner football in Howell, New Jersey. She joined three years ago for something to do with her friends. Cheerleading practice fits into her family’s typical “chauffeuring the kids” schedule. But Anna is not typical of most cheerleaders. Anna lives with spinal muscle atrophy and gets around by means of a motorized wheelchair.

But for cheerleading, she uses a standing wheelchair, in which she can do most of the “floor exercise” cheers. In some cheers, Anna and her standing chair form the center of a symmetrical tableau — something typical cheerleading squads can’t imitate! 

Cheering not only gives Anna an opportunity to learn skills and form special friendships with other girls with similar interests, but as a low contact sport, it safely helps with her lung expansion.

No one can predict what will happen when her cheerleading squad gets a little older and more competitive. In the meantime, Anna loves cheerleading with her friends!

— by Anna Landre, Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church, Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey.