As a near-deafening refrain of techno music rocked the 1st Mariner Arena, Kathy Brown gathered her 16 girls in the quietest corner she could find, drew them into a tight circle and voiced a theme she hoped would propel them through their 150 seconds in the spotlight.
"I don't want any attitudes," said Brown, coach of Coastal Xtreme, a Salisbury cheerleading squad in town yesterday to compete in the 18th annual Maryland State Cheer and Dance Championships. "Go out as there a team, and you'll take the title."
Decked out in white, black and gold cheerleading uniforms - with hair ribbons, eye glitter and lip gloss to match - the girls didn't seem to need the motivation. As one of 108 teams from around the state, they exuded an attitude of positivity, win or lose, as they waited to perform.
"I know we have a good chance," said Sabrina Brown, 14, a nine-year cheer veteran and daughter of the coach.
The annual extravaganza is the brainchild of Serena Andrews, a Baltimore native and founding CEO of Coastal Corporation. The Hanover-based company is one of about 120 that sponsor cheerleading competitions around the country each year.
The sport has been booming in popularity. Andrews started her company in the early 1990s, but the industry surged in 2001, she said. For five years, her business grew by about 30 percent annually, she said, before leveling off in 2006.
"It's a multibillion-dollar industry," says Andrews, who fell in love with cheerleading at age 3 and has been involved in the sport ever since. "Those of us who got started [in the business] when we did are better at fending off the competition."
Coastal annually runs 30 contests nationwide. The winners at those events - more than 300 teams - gain bids to Battle at the Capitol, Coastal's national championship in Fairfax, Va., in March.
Andrews describes herself as "the Don King of cheerleading," and the famed boxing promoter's job can hardly be more complex than hers. Yesterday's competition involved participants from multiple age groups (3 to 18 years old), six skill levels and several competitive categories, including cheer, dance, tumbling and stunts. Teams compete as recreational, all-star, high school or college units. (The "all-star" teams are based at private gyms.)
Nearly 3,000 parents and friends looked on from the stands - a number that might have been larger if President-elect Barack Obama weren't speaking at War Memorial Plaza a few blocks away.
