All big name gyms start out small, and it’s because of our small gyms that cheerleading is growing rapidly all over!

Small Gym September is an opportunity for us to celebrate gyms just like Cheer Mississippi.

Cheer Mississippi is located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and opened up in April 2018. Gym owner Tyler Carr has dedicated nearly his entire life to cheerleading and he knew since the day he started that he wanted to one day have his own gym.

“When I was 14, I attended my first cheerleading competition ever, Cheersport Nationals in Atlanta 2004,” said Carr. “The first cheer team I ever saw was Top Gun Large Coed. The next day I enrolled in a tumbling class at my local gym, formerly High Fly Allstars in Trussville, Alabama.”

Carr is from Birmingham, Alabama, and attended the well-known program Shelton State Community College for two years. He has been a part of cheerleading for 14 years and is grateful he finally gets to coach teams of his own.

“In the past 14 years I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the biggest and best names in the industry all over the country. I’ve taken everything I’ve learned from so many people and consolidated it into what is now Cheer Mississippi.”

Carr works alongside Wesley Thurman who also has an experienced background in cheerleading. He has cheered at Wallace State Community College and the University of Alabama.

Carr has a highly successful cheerleading background. He has cheered at High Fly Allstars, Shelton State Community College, Cheer Force One and Tiger Elite. Aside from competing, Carr has also coached at a hand full of prestigious programs.

TYLER'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

All Star

-2008 The Cheerleading Worlds athlete: High Fly

-2011 The Cheerleading Worlds athlete: Tiger Elite

-2013 The Cheerleading Worlds athlete: Tiger Elite

-2014 The Cheerleading Worlds coach: ACE of Atlanta War Chiefs

-2015 The Cheerleading Worlds coach: ACE of Hattiesburg Chiefs

-2015 The Summit coach: ACE of Hattiesburg Mayans

School

-2009 Shelton State Community College: UCA College National Champion

-2015 Trained Purvis High School Mississippi State Champions

-2016 Trained Harrison Central High School Mississippi State Champions

-2017 Trained Harrison Central High School Mississippi State Champions

The gym is brand new but gym owner Tyler Carr has high goals set for the future! This year the gym has two all star teams that Carr believes are competitive enough to earn a bid to the D2 Summit in May of 2019. The "Teal Ladies" will compete in the Youth Level 1 division and "Zeus" will compete in the Senior Coed Level 3 division. He also works with nine school teams that will be competing in various divisions for state and national events. These schools range throughout Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and Colorado.

"In the future it would be great to be able to bring a Level 5 or 6 team to Worlds, but right now we are focused on developing the talent of every athlete that walks through our doors regardless of current level and ability.”

Both of the Cheer Mississippi teams are beginning to go full out and Carr says the energy is starting to build daily! The teams are adding difficulty to their skills and are consistently progressing to get ready for their first competition.

"I couldn’t be more excited about getting this first season at Cheer Mississippi started!”

Growing up, Carr was an athlete that hung out in the gym all day every day because he loved being in the gym. 

“I think Wesley and myself are one of the best coaching duos around and I believe that is why we are growing every day with more athletes,” said Carr. “It feels good to be that gym where mom and dad can’t get their son or daughter to want to leave at the end of the day.”

Carr says their clients are amazing and the atmosphere at Mississippi Cheer is one of the reasons they have athletes that travel over three hours just to attend their gym.