Karen Hall and Lisa Bosch are two moms who met watching their sons play football in 1996. After a couple of years, their daughters became involved in a cheer program within the community football program. The program needed help as volunteers were hard to keep. They spent two years learning as much as they could and decided to start an all-star program in the Langley-Surrey community. "That was around 2003," says Karen. "We started with 17 kids, four of which were ours, and we rented space in a Tae Kwon Do place, using wrestling mats as our resilient surface." Eleven years later, the two women had grown the business to over 200 athletes and a facility of 8000 sq ft. including three large dance studios and a gym with a fully sprung floor.
A unique aspect of Xtreme Cheer and Dance is the combination of both a competitive dance and cheer program. "We are the only place that offers both," notes Karen. "Kids come for the artistic and creative outlet of dance and they also have the opportunity to be part of a sport at the same time." Both Karen and Lisa are adamant that the cheerleading aspect is, indeed, a sport. "These are pretty elite athletes at the higher level," says Karen. "It's a tough sport. It's very demanding physically, but the beauty of cheerleading is that it's the ultimate team sport. Everybody has to commit for the team to succeed."
