RICHMOND, Va. — A former bank building on West Broad Street in Richmond's Scotts Addition neighborhood is being transformed into a cheerleading and tumbling gym.
The nearly 10,000-square-foot space will soon be home to Virtus Athletics, where kids and young adults can develop a variety of cheer skills. The gym is set to officially open in early April.
The sport has grown in popularity in recent years, with a new professional cheerleading league and increased demand for world championship competitions.
Former college cheerleaders Blake Whetzel and Maddie Blankenship have worked with over 100 cheerleading teams across the state over the last five years.
The two say they are excited to have a central space where they can offer a mix of tumbling and cheerleading classes and camps to kids and adults with a range of experience.
Whetzel said the gym's name carries a deeper meaning.
"Virtus is actually the goddess that is on the Virginia flag, and so it's a woman of strength, a woman of power, and somebody that you look up to and respect," Whetzel said. "And that's what we want to build our athletes to be. We want our athletes to be able to leave our training process and feel confident in who they are, be excited for just going out into the world and that they can go out there and be proud of who they are."
Blankenship said having a permanent space in Scott's Addition will create an environment where young girls can grow not only in strength and skills, but as individuals.
"I want them to be able to come into the gym, and then as they spend time with us, as they progress, they learn how to grow in their skills, but also in their confidence and how they carry themselves throughout the world," Blankenship said. "We want to build not only good cheerleaders, but good humans, too."
In addition to cheer and tumbling, Virtus will eventually offer stretch and flex classes for adults on Friday mornings.
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