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The story behind that extra cheerleading sparkle on the football sidelines at Minnetonka

By Jim Paulsen, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 10/04/24, 12:30PM CDT

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Inclusion and ‘great opportunity’ are at the heart of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a high school cheerleading program for girls with special needs.

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Minnetonka Sparklers Piper Breczinski (left to right), Violet Ryan and Ava Zutz cheer during a football game on Sept. 27. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.

The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.

Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.

They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.

For more about the Minnetonka Sparklers, click here to read this story on startribune.com.

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