'Pure, pure joy': Local woman fulfills lifelong dream of cheerleading at Elks game
Marni Panas has been going to Edmonton Elks games for decades, cheering on the team from the stands. This year, she decided to try something different and cheered them on from the field.
Panas fulfilled a lifelong dream last Saturday when she made her debut as a cheerleader at the Elks' halftime show.
"It was one of the most joyful experiences in my life," Panas said. "It was just so much fun."
Every year, the Edmonton Elks Football Club offers fans four years old and up the chance to cheer alongside the Elks Cheer Team at a halftime show. As a season ticket holder, she's seen the offer before, but always assumed it was for younger kids.
This year, Panas said something clicked and she decided to seize the opportunity. After all, she's over four years old.
"I turned 50 last year," Panas said. "It's been an empowering year just to really own who I am and to not care what anybody thinks and just live my best life."
"I'm just going to do the things that bring me joy, bring me true, true joy, and this was one of them."
Panas said she was a bit worried when she arrived at the first practice to find the room full of more than 100 kids. But it didn't discourage her too much; she was going to do it even if she was the only grown-up in the group.
"I don't care if I am the only adult and I tower over everybody," Panas said. "I am going to own this experience because it's something I've dreamt about all my life."
There ended up being 10 other women there, she said, and they became a team over the next month, practicing together three hours a week for the big day.
When the time came to hit the field for real, they nailed it, Panas said. Her son, as always, was in the stands, cheering on his mom and her new friends as they did something many people might be afraid to do.
But that can't stop you, said Panas.
"If I had a message for anybody, it is to find the things that truly bring you joy, like pure, pure joy, and do those things," she said. "Truly live your best life, because we've only got one of them and it's not as long as we think it is.
"So, while you can, do the things that bring you joy."
That's exactly what Panas is going to do, and she's decided to extend her cheerleading career and recently joined a Prep Team with Alberta Cheer Empire, where she's a backstop.
"I'm going to see this thing through," Panas said. "My only regret is that I didn't find out about this 10 years ago."
With files by CTV News Edmonton's Jessica Robb
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