Pictured : Michelle- Mom of Amellia (J2)/co- creator of The Locked Out Cheer Moms; Stephanie- Mom of Alexis (J3/Sr3)/co-creator of TLOCM;Sarah- Mom of Alyssa (J2/J3) and Atley (J2); Gabby- Mom of Molly (Sr 3) and Fiona (Tiny 1); Ashley- Mom of Lachlyn (J2)
A couple of fun, feisty and Certifiably CheerMADs from Kentucky have taken to social media to give us a new way to shake our heads in agreement and laugh at ourselves, worthy of the CheerMAD Stamp of Approval!
Created just last Sunday, The Locked Out Cheer Moms "Camo" video had 11,000 views on co-creator Stephanie Warren's Facebook page by Wednesday morning; so many that she started "The Locked Out Cheer Moms" Facebook page.
"This started totally as a dare," Stephanie explained.
When Stephanie arrived at their gym,Triple Crown Cheer Co. on Sunday she found her friend Michelle Nutter-Fields asleep in her car.
"In the fall, every Sunday practice is a lock-out," She continued.
"No Parent Zone," "Drama Free Zone," "Keep Out," "Only athletes and coaches allowed," or "Lock-Out" -there are many names but the concept is the same: it's the declaration that parents aren't allowed into the gym.
Stephanie, left with daughter Alexis, says she's been around cheer her whole life: cheering in high school and has been a cheer coach since she was 16, through college and then at the All Star level. She calls Michelle a "accidental cheer mom" after Stephanie and Samantha Alongi, who owns Triple Crown "begged" her to let her daughter, Amelia, cheer. The three women originally met when they worked together as healthcare auditors several years ago.
Flash forward and Samantha is the owner of Triple Crown where Stephanie (now a pageant director) and Michelle are cheer moms.
Like so many others, both women drive 45-minutes each way to practices. Since this is not enough time to return home and come back to the gym, they wait in their cars in the parking lot when they are locked out of the gym.
After waking Michelle up, Stephanie says they were sitting in the car catching up, when she noticed a camo suit that Michelle's son had left behind.
"Kind of half-joking, Michelle said 'I dare you to put this (camo suit) on and scale the wall,'" Stephanie explained.
" I told her 'Don't dare me,'" she said with an easy laugh and in her friendly Southern drawl.
Backed by a well-known, stealth-like musical piece, the 30 second video shows Stephanie peeking into the windows and door of their gym, dressed in the camo suit.
"It's funny to people because we've all tried to see a practice we aren't supposed to see by parking strategically to look into the gym or take a peak through the curtain during warm-ups," Stephanie said.
"You can't tell me that we all don't," she added.
They snap-chatted the video to Samantha who loved it, Stephanie said and told them they should put it on Facebook. The video was received so well by friends and family with 562 "Likes" in two days. That reception encouraged Stephanie and Michelle to make a commitment to each other to post a new video every Sunday afternoon.
"We're really surprised by all the attention it's received," Stephanie said. "It's all in light-hearted fun that we can all relate to."
"The two of us will always be a part of it but we'll be joined by moms from all different teams," Stephanie said about co-creator Michelle Nutter-Fields, seen right with daughter Amelia.
The plan is to introduce more moms as they progress.
"We'll have some guest posters and invite people to send in their own pictures and videos after we get going and are more established," Stephanie explained.
"We're careful to show that We're not making fun of you. We're making fun of all of us.'"