Located in the Byram area of Greenwich, Connecticut, the Greenwich Tumble & Cheer (GTC) gym is the home of the National Champion Liberty All Stars, a competitive cheerleading team. Competitive cheerleading is one of the fastest growing sports in the athletic industry and GTC provides a home where girls and boys from surrounding communities can train with top cheerleading and tumbling instructors and can compete at events under the organizational umbrella of the US All-Star Federation (USASF).
For the 2009/2010 season, there are two full-season Liberty All Star squads, Youth Pride, and Senior Stars and one half-season squad, Junior Freedom. The participants range from ages 5 to 21 years old. In addition to being the home of the Liberty All Star Cheerleading teams, GTC currently offers clinics and camps.
In May of 2008, Greenwich Tumble & Cheer formed a strategic alliance with Planet Stunt, LLC which now serves as the GTC in-house advanced Cheerleading & Tumbling instruction branch of the gym. Planet Stunt's founder and CEO, Derron M. Forrest (aka "Big D") and his highly skilled staff offer intensive training classes together with GTC. Classes throughout the year may include Beginning Tumbling, Advanced Tumbling, Open Tumbling, Cheer Strength & Conditioning, Flexible Flyers, Stunt Training, Specific Tumbling Classes for Back Handsprings, Back Tucks, Layouts, and Full Twists, and more.
Greenwich Tumble and Cheer and the Liberty All Stars was formed by Gigi Lombardi, who spent serveral years has head coach for for the Mavericks youth cheerleaders and 12 years as coaching in which her daughters participated. In 2004, Gigi began researching the formation of her own Greenwich-based All Star gym and started attending All Star conferences and coaching clinics. She also began looking for a good location for a gym as well as for the important equipment needed to train an All Star team. In 2005, Gigi recruited Toni Sechi to help her bring her vision to life and the two launched Greenwich Tumble and Cheer in Byram in May of 2005 with a hugely successful grand opening event. It was not long before the gym had 20 girls enrolled and they could form a Junior All Star team. At the time, only 2 of the 20 girls could even do a back handspring and today there are over 100 All Stars and 3/4 of them have at least a back handspring. In late 2005, Greenwich Tumble and Cheer was off to a great start and Stacey Friedlander also joined Gigi to assist with the demanding administrative and management responsibilities of the growing gym. In 2009, Toni Sechi and Stacey Friedlander became sole owners of the gym.
Greenwich Tumble and Cheer's mission from the beginning was to give cheerleaders in the local communities an opportunity to become elite athletes rather than just supporting other athletes from the sidelines of a football field. Competitive cheerleading is considered "theatrical athleticism" and incorporates technical merit, dance, gymnastics, and drama. "It's not only about the show, it's about teamwork," says Stacey. "The All Stars are a group of dedicated athletes who work together as a unit. These cheerleaders have tremendous skill and responsibility for the safety of their teammates. We fly in professional cheerleading choreographers from around the country to teach the teams new routines each year, and music producers create custom music tracks complete with sound effects, voice overs, and other personalizations. Each team has two coaches and they practice two times a week. Also, the All Stars are required to attend at least one tumbling session each week. The program that we've created is very professional and we are extremely proud of it."
Each year, the Liberty All Star teams compete in 8 - 10 competitions a year around the New England area. Some of the squads will also travel to Baltimore, Maryland for a National Competition and may compete in future season's in Orlando, Florida at Disney World. The new half-season Junior Freedom squad begins in December and participates in 3 competitions. This team was created to offer less of a commitment for cheerleaders who want to enjoy the experience without over-extending themselves.
Aside from the Liberty All Stars, Greenwich Tumble and Cheer has also helped the community in other ways. The refurbished gym itself was one of the elements that is helping to bring life back to Byram and increase traffic to this re-developing area. The gym, located in a 100 year old building, was once the location for Sokol Gymnastics Club. Also, Greenwich Tumble and Cheer assists outside organizations with cheer and tumbling instruction and camps, including town youth cheerleading teams as well as several local high school teams.