Effect-ing Change: The Sparkle Effect
Just over a decade ago in 2001, the Kentucky Elite Showcats were the first and only special needs cheer team in the country. Today, the trend has exploded with more than 500 squads in the United States, Canada and Great Britain and divisions popping up at major events like Cheersport, NCA and Worlds. At the forefront of the movement? 19-year-old Sarah Cronk, founder of the Sparkle Effect—a non-profit that has spawned more than 87 special needs teams in its singular quest to make cheer an inclusive sport for all.
To the casual observer, Cronk might resemble any other go-getter college sophomore—she’s a senior resident adviser in her dorm at Whitman College, Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sister and certified yoga instructor. Yet Cronk has been an active entrepreneur and changemaker since the age of 15, when she was first inspired to spark the Sparkle Effect. At the time, Cronk and her teammates from Bettendorf, IA-based Pleasant Valley High School had just conducted a cheer clinic at the Iowa Special Olympics. During the experience, Cronk was struck by how easy it was to adapt cheerleading across varying skill levels—and the way it gave everyone an opportunity to shine in the spotlight.
That revelation, coupled with the fact that her autistic older brother was thriving on the school swim team, planted the seedling for Sparkle Effect. “I wanted to use cheerleading, which was my passion, to do the same for other kids,” says Cronk. “It’s so fun, too! You get to see everyone’s smiles. Communities rally around cheerleading and we found that tying inclusion into that really creates a perfect storm.”
Originally, Cronk’s efforts were tied exclusively to Pleasant Valley HS, where she and her squad created the Spartan Sparkles—the country’s first high school-based inclusive cheer team—by securing grants from Do Something and local rotary organizations. Yet when inquiries started pouring in about how to start a similar team, Cronk knew she was meant for a bigger mission, and the Sparkle Effect was born.
SVia a free “Quick Start” kit on the Sparkle Effect website, interested parties can download a full toolkit for starting a special needs team (such as fundraising tips, grant applications and step-by-step advice). Cronk and her team have also partnered with Varsity for a uniform grant program, and Sparkle Effect reps travel around the country offering free on-site training to new special needs startups.
As president of the non-profit, Cronk’s day-to-day duties run the gamut from planning campaigns, managing various teams, assisting with trainings, handling public relations and overseeing the board of directors and part-time employees. Last summer, she spearheaded the promotional “Are You In?” tour, traveling to various UCA and UDA camps to generate interest in the Sparkle Effect. “The scope I learned as a cheerleader about mobilizing people to take action and fostering a spirit of community has definitely taken me a long way,” shares Cronk.
Not that the road has always been smooth—at the outset, Cronk was a teenager with virtually no business experience, and she occasionally struggled with being taken seriously. Yet by staying the course and securing corporate partners like Varsity, Cronk and the organization were able to truly take off. These days, her biggest challenge is often juggling the demands of attending college and running a non-profit simultaneously.
“It’s taken a lot of practice, and it’s not always easy,” Cronk says, adding that she’ll often delegate duties when she can’t leave campus. “It’s really just about staying on top of things. Sleep sometimes goes by the wayside.”
If recognition is any indication, Cronk’s efforts have certainly paid off. In 2012, she was named a CNN Breakthrough Woman and a L’Oreal Woman of Worth, and the Sparkle Effect was a Classy Awards regional winner for Human Rights Charity of the Year. However, Cronk hopes for a day when this work isn’t seen as unusual.
“Ultimately, my biggest dream is that inclusion is as big a part of cheerleading as pom-pons are,” she says. “I hope that eventually people don’t need to get that fired up about it—and that it’s just the norm.”
–Jennifer Deinlein