PHOTO OF THE DAY: CHEERY DISPOSITION

Those taking part in the recent Lil’ Flyer Cheer Camp — including organizers Amy Sorensen, left, and Taylor Fransen, right — offer a big “thank you” to those who have supported what is designed to be an ongoing effort to bring cheer back to basketball at Freeman High School.

The exhibition took place at halftime of last Friday’s boys basketball game against Kimball-White Lake and featured a choreographed routine to the song “Get Back Up Again” from the DreamWorks movie Trolls. A number of high school girls helped Sorensen and Fransen lead the camp, which included a practice the Sunday before the game — on Feb. 23 — and a run-through in the elementary gym before the show. Sorensen, who is a parent and track coach at Freeman Public, said Fransen, a 2021 FHS graduate who remembers cheer camps when she was a girl, mentioned the idea at a basketball game earlier in the season and the two took the lead from there.

“The high school girls were just fantastic teaching the littles,” said Sorensen. “The kids caught on quick, and we had a lot of fun and a lot of positive feedback.”

Sorensen, who notes there was a lot of sponsorship support, is hopeful that Freeman Public can create on ongoing culture around the Lil’ Flyers program, “and hopefully grow into something else.”

And while she appreciates the cheer program that is part of Phoenix football and Rebels wrestling athletics, “it would be nice to say we have an FHS cheerleading program again,” Sorensen said. “Cheer can have a positive impact, not just on athletics, but within the school and within the community.”