Leeds Council recognizes award-winning cheerleading squads

By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune

LEEDS, Ala.–The Leeds City Council recognized three local cheerleading squads during its meeting on Monday who took home awards from the Cheerleading Battle of the South and Cheer Mania on the Mountain competitions.

First to be recognized was the sophomore squad coached by Brooke Hendrick and Erica Hollis. They won first and second place in the team competitions.

Second was the junior squad coached by Julie Moore, Megan Prentice, and Caitlyn Brown, which placed third and first place in the team competitions. Blakely Pearson was also noted for winning second place and third place in individual competitions.

Third was the seniors, coached by Jamie Stidham and Jessica Beasly, who took third place in the team competition. Khloe Taylor and Ava Ford won first place and second place in the individual competitions.

“Congratulations ladies, you guys did a wonderful job,” Mayor David Miller said after reading proclamations honoring the teams.

After passing several items on the agenda the council heard from Susan Carswell during the public comments. She thanked the council for recognizing the cheerleading teams.

“I think that’s very important,” Carswell said. “And we need to really be grateful for the parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and all of the people that volunteer because they don’t just volunteer to coach, they raise the money for these programs, because, unless I’m missing something, the city doesn’t fund them. They’re self-funded and they depend on the kindness of their schools for their facilities.”

She pointed out that Trussville and Springville have facilities for their cheerleaders to practice inside of but that the Leeds cheerleaders do not. She also said that she was told that they could not practice at the civic center apparently due to lack of air conditioning.

Miller asked Councilor Eric Turner if he would look into finding a place, to which he said that he would. Miller also suggested possibly renovating a space at what was once called the Depot Restaurant to accommodate their practice.

In other business the council:

• Declared police and fire department property as surplus and authorized their sale,
• Approved an allocation of $5,000 from court corrections funds to JBS Mental Health Services,
• Authorized the purchase of office furnishings for the police department for $12,830 to be paid for with confiscated funds, and
• Renewed a lease agreement with the Knights of Columbus for the Leeds Civic Center.

Meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of every month at City Hall on 1400 9^th Street Northeast. Agenda packets can be seen online at the City of Leeds website.