‘It has become very big, very fast’: Camas Washougal Youth Cheer offers variety of programs for youth 5-18Subscriber Exclusive

After serving as a coach for Vancouver-based Southwest Washington Youth Cheerleading for several years, Crista Braun started to think about branching out on her own. She was motivated by her desire to provide Clark County youth with a year-round cheerleading program and belief in her ability to change kids’ lives for the better.

She finalized her decision after witnessing the impact she had on one girl in particular.

“Her mom passed away, and the only thing she wanted to do was come to cheer,” Braun said. “It was so sad and so heartwarming all in one. She said that she just wants to be with her ‘cheer sisters.’ ”

Braun launched Camas Washougal Youth Cheer in 2023, offering a variety of programs, including summer camps, skills training classes, and competitive and sideline teams, for youth ages 5 to 18. The program strives to “create an environment with the purpose of fostering character, leadership and inclusivity in every young person” it serves, according to its website.

“I go into my coaching a little differently than other people. I bond the kids as community members first and then start working on cheers,” said Braun, a certified nurse who works at Lower Columbia College as a mental health advocacy director. “I realized I was really building something beautiful and tight-knit, and decided two years ago that it was time for me to start something specifically for the east Vancouver-Camas-Washougal area to start bonding kids on a bigger level.”

The organization has a combined 92 participants on its sideline teams, which cheer for Camas Youth Basketball league squads (kindergarten through ninth grade) and competitive teams, which participate in all-star-level competitions all over the Pacific Northwest. Its summer program, which performed at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup earlier this year, counted 182 participants.

Most of the participating youth are Camas or Washougal residents, but some come from Vancouver and other parts of Clark County as well.

“The craziest thing to me is how fast this has grown,” Braun said. “I never imagined that this would be so big. It has become very big, very fast.”

Camas Washougal Youth Cheer succeeds because of Braun’s empathy, patience and work ethic, said Lexi McConville, a Washougal High School senior.

“Coach Crista always pushes to make her cheerleaders better and stronger while also finding ways to build relationships with her cheerleaders,” said McConville, a member of the Washougal High cheerleading squad and Camas Washougal Youth Cheer coach. “I truly believe she is the reason I am the cheerleader I am today. … I want more kids to experience what I did while working with Coach Crista because she truly does make so many people love cheerleading.”

Camas Washougal Youth Cheer’s rapid growth forced Braun to consider alternatives to the organization’s original home, New Horizons Church in Washougal. Braun appreciated the church leaders’ willingness to provide a location for her girls to practice at no charge, but she hoped to eventually find a bigger space so that she could think about growing the business.

That opportunity arrived earlier this fall when Braun finalized an agreement to lease space at Vancouver Elite Gymnastics Academy’s Washougal location for her competitive squads — named Inferno — to use for weekly sessions.

The facility, located at the Port of Camas-Washougal’s industrial park, provides better equipment, more space, easier setup, and more opportunities for parents and siblings to interact during practice sessions, Braun said.

“We have enough room now to be able to have more teams, to have more girls who otherwise would have been sitting out at home doing nothing,” Braun said. “We want to keep our kids healthy. We want to keep them busy. We want to keep them out of trouble. It really does come down to the business owners and the adults putting in that extra mile to make sure the kids have spaces to be safe and get out of the house and get off of the devices, and this is going to allow these kids to do that.”

Camas Washougal Youth Cheer’s sideline program, which operates via a partnership with the Camas School District’s Community Education program, also recently found a new home at the Heights Learning Center in Camas.

“We have access to two pretty large gyms, so we have a lot of space,” Braun said. “We have more than enough space at this point. We technically have room for more kids, which is the whole point. I would love to grow (the sideline program).”

Camas Washougal Youth Cheer also offers a teen mentorship program, offering hands-on training in coaching, mentorship and life skills, such as first aid and leadership development, as well as medical certification and scholarship opportunities.

“I love helping the kids transition into adulthood and watching them thrive,” Braun said. “I can use my medical experience and my coaching experience to mend these kiddos. Sports alone isn’t going to do it, but if you mix a medical mind into it, and you take the kid as a whole, physiologically and emotionally, that’s how we’re going to accomplish that.”

The program works with Fosterful, a Vancouver-based nonprofit organization that provides support to foster children and caregivers. More than 10 local foster youth participate in Camas Washougal Youth Cheer through Fosterful’s financial assistance, Braun said.

“Crista and her team have such a big heart for kids in their community,” Fosterful Executive Director Sarah Desjarlais said. “They have firsthand knowledge of being a foster caregiver and thoughtfully crafted their mentorship program with that in mind.”

Braun hopes to secure a permanent facility within two years to accommodate more teams and expand programming, providing continuous opportunities for kids to engage in cheerleading throughout the year.

“(My professional experience) seems random — cheerleading, coaching, nursing, mental health — but I’m bridging it all together to be an asset for our community,” Braun said. “I grew up poor in a community (Salem, Ore.) that didn’t have a lot of things like this. I loved cheer, and I ended up going on to cheer for many years, and it was the only thing I remember having. I loved going to practice because that meant I got to have friends and a warm space and food, and I just want to be able to provide those things for (other people).”