How Sport is Empowering Girls to Lead

In this week’s blog, we have a special interview with twin sisters, Aly Calvo and Andrea Kulberg, the co-founders of Legacy Cheer and Dance. When I spoke to Aly and Andrea, it was clear that they have a vision to empower, mentor and build confidence in girls. Their mission is to use their 30 years’ experience to help coaches, programme directors, and cheer parents to build an exceptionally positive experience in their personal journey within the cheer & dance community. With two regional, four super regional and one national competition this season, Legacy Cheer and Dance is the fastest growing event provider to the UK cheerleading community.

Andrea is legally blind. Aly is fully sighted. Through the power of cheer and dance, they aim to empower young women with the skills they need early in life, equipping them to realise their potential and create a world where girls lead for life.

Tell us about your story

Andrea - we are identical twins and we were born two pounds each and three weeks premature. The doctors said that we weren’t going to make it through the night. Fortunately, we did. Unfortunately, I had too much oxygen in my incubator for 18 days which damaged my retina and the optic nerve. This has left me severely visually impaired. This led to limitations. I’m legally blind, I can’t see to drive, I can’t see across the room and I can’t see well at night. As an identical twin where were compared our whole lives, next to a fully sighted person, this created mentorship and inspiration between us and to think outside the box. Then you add sport to the equation as we grew older, it was a total game changer.

Aly - Andrea and I have an amazing bond. Our work has always been about the value of the sport and that is what matters. There is so much that comes out of a sport, especially for girls. We have two companies, one in the UK which some may know as Legacy Cheer and Dance. We gather thousands of people in to arenas and they come and compete in cheer and dance. During Covid-19, when we had to pivot, we created this beautiful component of us working together and sharing our own experiences together. This is the sister company called Lead, Love, Legacy in the United States which is our mentorship company. It provides a platform for building leaders for life through every sport that you can imagine, and it is needed more now than ever.

How was sport for you in your teenage years?

Andrea - Before cheerleading, we started with baton twirling and we were world champion baton twirlers. It is a spinning a metal baton, throwing in the air, turning around, and catching it. Blind people don’t do that, it’s not an adaptable sport but I had to figure out how to adapt. We then moved to Texas, where everyone did cheer, so we sat at school one day when it was ‘try out’ time for the school team. Aly said she wanted to try out and all our friends were encouraging. When I said I wanted to try out as well, someone said ‘you can’t try out because you can’t see.’ But for me when the world says I can’t … I chose that I could. So, I put the right people around me and tried out for cheerleading. We both made the team, we developed our skills and cheered though junior high, high school and the elite level during university. Then we taught at camps, learned to coach at different levels, and taught choreography. Then created two different cheerleading companies to create the space where a group of people who understand the value of sport can come together and can compete in the sport they love.

What does self-confidence mean for girls?

Aly - I think sometimes society makes the mistake of thinking if I can achieve something it will make me confident. The truth is in reverse. We are born confident and then at some point as we grow up, we start having society beat us down and worrying about what other people might think. The action of trying something new builds confidence and then you take another step. That builds more confidence. Using sport and confidence, encourages you to improve in that sport.

Tell is about your ‘Leaders for Life’ programme?

Aly - What it all boils down to, is that everybody deserves mentorships in their life. Because we’ve been privileged to able to mentor and build leaders for life through sport, we transitioned it to an online platform. It’s a 12-month programme. We are an official Approved Activity Provider (AAP) for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and each month they receive new training, videos to watch, interaction with us, download PDFS and work with their mentors, teachers, or parents to internalise what leadership looks like. You can read about all our programs on the Lead, Love, Legacy website. We are actually soon to launch a programme for parents and have smaller bitesize programmes on topics such as bullying, building a culture, mentorship and we have one about Legacy Leadership.

How can young people join your ambassador programme?

Aly – It is called the Legacy and Lead Ambassador program and it is only in the UK. The truth is, we have a lot more people wanting to work for us then we have spots for them! The ambassador program was created so people can come in and learn about behind the scenes and what it is like to run a large event. We welcome different ages, and you don’t have to have experience, just a passion for the sport.

When are your next events?

Andrea- Very soon! We have an event coming back in London on 20th November 2021 that we are so excited for! It is for anyone to join in or just spectate, we have a whole page on our website as well as gyms around the UK. Even if you have never tried cheer before you are still welcome and encouraged to join!

Find out more at https://www.legacycheeranddance.com/season-2021-2022/