Welcome to North East Cheer
North East Cheer have a world-class training facility, one of the best and largest cheer gyms in England and even Europe. We offer classes for girls and boys aged 3+ and offer training from beginners level all the way through to our international level teams. But it has not always been this way. Our competitive cheer journey started with humble beginnings.
The story of North East Cheer so far
Rachel Lynch - Owner
North East Cheer & The Urban Factory
In 2006, Rachel Lynch set up a small cheer class in South Tyneside, looking to offer something different to young people in the area and promote goal setting for young girls. Her recreational cheer & dance classes became very popular very quickly and this led to the start of South Tyneside Cheerleading Academy (STCA) . The club saw quick success in English competitive cheer and started to stack up various national titles in just the first season alone.
STCA continued to grow in size whilst gaining more titles in English & European competitive cheer. This led to the development of a community cheer programme in Newcastle called Cheer Cats, managed by former athletes Stacey Howden and Kim Varty, both of which are fundamental in the development of the club as we now know it. Together, STCA and Cheer Cats started increasing opportunities for young girls who were interested in competitive cheer in the North East of England.
By 2016 there was such a heavy demand for competitive cheer in North East England that it was time for change. Rachel spent 10 days in America shadowing some of the world's best coaches and gym owners at Cheer Athletics in Dallas. She came back inspired and ready for growth.
Rachel re-branded STCA and Cheer Cats under one club name to North East Cheer. In 2018 Rachel fulfilled her dream of becoming a gym owner and The Urban Factory was created. Providing a home for cheerleading in the region and a platform that would allow the sport to grow even bigger.
The Team
North East Cheer is now run by Rachel Lynch & Stacey Howden as full time Programme Directors, both are highly active in coaching our competitive cheer teams. Rachel oversees the growth and development of our club and gym, and Stacey manages our recreational programme and Tumble Academy. Kim Varty forms part of our management team as a Head Coach focusing on our Tiny and Mini athletes. Alongside Rachel, Stacey & Kim, we have Marie Scroggins as our full time operations manager and Sophie Lee as our Pre School Manager. We also have a large team of senior coaches, coaching, young leaders and team reps who support our programme.
What North East Cheer can offer you
The Urban Factory is one of the largest competitive cheer gyms in Europe and our club continues to grow in numbers and strength every year. Our venue is truly unrivalled in England and we are proud to provide our athletes with a world class cheer training facility.
The Urban Factory has a full sized 9 panel competition sprung floor, a smaller 7 panel sprung floor, a 6 panel matted gymnastics floor, 3 panel warm up floor, studio, 2 tumble tracks and incredible training aids. The venue also has a bespoke Parkour arena, soft play and pre-school programme, cafe and viewing gallery offering extended viewing across the entire venue.
Due to the scale of our gym we are able to offer a wide range of cheerleading and tumble classes and also coach people of various skill levels. We offer everything from novice and recreational cheer classes to coaching for highly skilled athletes with our elite level and international teams.
The club qualified to represent England at The Summit (Florida) in 2019, 2022 & 2023. The club has also won numerous local and national titles.
North East Cheer, recently took over the running of Newcastle Skyline and look forward to extending their classes across the North Tyneside area.
"Ruby started cheer 6 years ago with her older sister who was always her ‘comfort blanket’.
After her sister sustained an injury, Ruby, at the mere age of 9, stepped in to fill her sister’s spot at one of the world’s most prestigious competitions – The Summit! Though it was daunting, with peer support, training given from our fabulous coaches and pure determination, she did it.
Fast forward 3 years and she has managed to gain back-to-back national titles, as well as win two further places at The Summit! She was recently awarded a prize for the most sass at The Summit, which demonstrates how far she has grown as an individual."
Ruby
"Poppy loves every minute of being a part of North East Cheer. She’s always been a really shy child, but with the coaches encouragement, she now has a lot more confidence, self belief and resilience.
Whatever her ability levels have been along her journey within North East Cheer, she has always been given her own chance to shine in some way, and in this club, there’s room for everyone which is so refreshing.
She has always been supported and encouraged to be the best she can be and we are extremely grateful to the tremendous coaching team for the amazing opportunities they continuously work so hard to give to their athletes.
Best hobby ever, and Poppy would live there if she could!"
Poppy
Tomorrow never comes so sign up today!
Whether you’re interested in getting into competitive cheer in North East England or you're just looking for a fun way to keep fit, please don’t hesitate to give us a shout! Remember, when you join North East Cheer, you are not just joining a competitive cheer programme, you are joining a cheer family. A family that creates incredible memories, friendships and opportunities for young people in North East England.
