Get ready for some competition during Saturday's July 4 parade in Arbutus, because the Arbutus Thunder girls pom squad is in it to win it, according to Carol Matthews, the team's coach and founder.

While hometown nerves might be a factor, the up-and-coming squad has grown tremendously since its start in 2005, and has dealt with pressure before, she said.

In fact, it was just about a month ago, on May 30, that an anxious Thunder team was approaching the judges' table in Ocean City during the Council of Baltimore Ravens Roost Parade.

Coaches Taylor Rae Matthews, who will be a junior at Lansdowne High School in the fall, and Britney Grimes, who will be a freshman at Catonsville High School, had led their squad to victory in the annual statewide competition last year, and were looking to defend their title.

But she and her fellow junior coach were still a bit nervous, Taylor said.

The routine they had planned was a complicated one that had only been created a week before.

The local pom scene is quite competitive -- other squads have even taken to videotaping the Thunder's practices and mimicking their routines -- so last-minute changes are important, said Matthews, who is Taylor's mom.

The squad's new routine was also more difficult than routines the squad's 22 girls -- who range in age from 3 to 15 -- had attempted before, she said.

"When Taylor first showed me this routine, I was thinking, 'OK, this might be a little too difficult because I've never seen another pom squad do it,' " she said.

"Our squad is different from all the other ones," Taylor, 15, said, "because we stunt."

Taylor's background is in cheerleading. So is Britney's.

The Thunder performs "stunt" work as part of its routines, and even has "fly girls" who are launched into the air, Matthews said.

Those aspects make their routines untraditional in the world of pom, but "it is what it is, and the judges seem to think we're better," Matthews said.

That was indeed the case at the Ocean City parade, which the Thunder won for the second year in a row.

"It felt good," Taylor said. "It felt really good."

She cried when the decision was announced, she said.

So did her mom. So did her dad, Bill.

"I'm just so proud of my girls," Carol Matthews said.

"Over the last four years, we've learned a lot, and right now I think we're the best thing going," she said. "For a long time it was someone else, but now it's us, and let me tell you, it feels good."

When Matthews first approached the Arbutus Recreation and Parks Council about starting a pom squad in 2005, she was met with "some resistance," she said.

"I was being told by the council that, 'We don't need a pom squad. We already have a cheerleading squad,'" she said. "But that cheerleading squad filled up so fast."

Taylor had just left the Lansdowne Shooting Stars pom squad, and Matthews wanted her daughter to have another outlet to participate in the sport.

So, she persisted in requesting permission to start the new squad, she said.

When she got approval to do so, the Thunder began.

At first, the new squad seemed unpolished compared to the more seasoned squads, Matthews said.

"We were a nuisance to the other squads," she said. "We were just in everybody's way."

But as time went on, the team began to come together.

As Taylor and Britney began putting more of their cheerleading experience into creating the squad's routines, the more the Thunder stood out in competitions, Matthews said.

Before last year's Ravens Roost parade competition in Ocean City, Matthews said Taylor approached her and said, "Do you think we can try to throw a thigh stand in there?"

Soon enough, mother and daughter were discussing "putting a girl all the way up in the air," Matthews said.

"Nobody had ever seen a pom squad do that before," she said.

When the squad performed the stunt during the Ocean City competition, they knew they were on to something.

Since then, Taylor and Britney have been incorporating their cheer experience whenever they can, Taylor said.

"We just think of stunts that we've done before for (the Arbutus Golden Eagles rec football program) and (Lansdowne High's Vikings) and try to take them down a notch to make them easier," Taylor said.

"Then when the girls get them, we take them back up."

Sometimes other pom squads get "a little upset" with the Thunder incorporating cheer into their pom routine, Matthews said, but the response the team has gotten from judges and parade watchers has been encouraging.

The squad's transition from upstart to top contender, she said, has been even better.

"As parents we're all very proud of our team," Matthews said.

"For so many years, people just thought we were a joke," she said. "At some parades, we only had seven kids. Now we have a strong team and they're there every parade."

And as for this year's annual July 4 parade in their hometown?

"Don't discount us from placing first," Matthews said.

Other members of the team are as follows:

Tianna Connor, 10; Taylor Conroy, 12; Desiree Duncan, 7; Savannah Duncan, 8; Morgan Estepp, 4; Kylie Gulotta, 7; Kasy Herman, 12; Arianna Kittelson, 4; Katelyn Lange, 14; Allison McMillin, 6; Cara Michael, 10; Cassidy Michael,13; Blair Noniacki, 10; Kirsten Peightan, 11; Cheyenne Rogall, 7; Eve Watson, 7; Megan Witt, 12; and Alexis Young, 10.

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user comments (4)

user beingme4ever says...

I HAVE BEEN TO MANY OF THE PARADES AND I HAVE SEEN ALL THE GROUPS PERFORM AND I HAVE YET TO SEE ANY OTHER GROUPS MIMICK ANY OF THE THUNDERS ROUTINE. ALL POM GROUPS ARE GOING TO HAVE SIMILAR PARTS IN THEIR ROUTINE THAT IS PART OF THE COMPETITION. I THINK HOW THE THUNDER COACH ACTS AFTER SOME OF THE PARADES IS UNCALLED FOR AND THE MESSAGES ON THEIR WINDOWS IS RIDICULOUS. AS FOR THE THUNDER PARENTS BOOING THE OTHER GROUPS AS THEY DO THEIR ROUTINE IN THE PARADE THAT IS VERY POOR SPORTSMENSHIP. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR THE GIRLS. WHAT DOES THAT TEACH THEIR TEAM WHEN THEY ACT LIKE THAT. AS FAR AS THE "STUNT" THEY DO THAT CLASSIFIES THEM AS CHEERLEADING NOT A POM GROUP.

Posted 8:05 PM, 07.03.09

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user oneluv1023 says...

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE COMMENT ABOVE. THE PARENTS AND COACH ACTS VERY IMMATURE. COME ON NOW THIS IS FOR THE KIDS..........WHAT DOES IT TEACH THEM WHEN PARENTS ARE BOOING OTHER GROUPS THAT WORKS JUST AS HARD AS THE OTHER GROUPS. ITS CALLED BAD SPORTSMAN SHIP. GROW UP PEOPLE. I FIND IT THAT THE THUNDER POMS SHOULD BE PUT OUT OF ALL PARADES FOR THIS.

Posted 12:57 PM, 07.10.09

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user carol691 says...

First and foremost, there are NO RULES for poms as a whole. Unless you are counting the rules in your head. PLEASE tell me what we put on our vehicle that offended you. I can't think of anything. No girl has every been MADE to finish a parade. If you can not speak the truth, don't speak anything. All of my parents of course are instructed not to boo anyone. I don't control adults. I would also like to know how myself and coaches are inappropriate. If you can give my 5 examples, I will your pardon. Bet you can't. You talk alot, but I don't see any proof of these claims. Seems to me you are the person that is disrespecting OUR hard work. Very immature to be posting things that are obviously nothing more than sour grapes.

Posted 4:47 AM, 08.08.09

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user buzemom30 says...

You must be informed of this...quotes and info has not only came from different groups but some of YOUR own people so don't cast stones too much. I have already given enough info on my part but looks like you made another fan oneluv0123...have no idea who that is.

Posted 3:40 PM, 08.17.09

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