琉璃神社 Cheer Athletics has opened its doors on Spedding Road and is a couple of weeks into summer classes. 

With more than 200 athletes already registered, the new organization is sure its filling a much-needed gap in the Okanagan. 

Okanagan Firestorm, the only cheer organization between Vancouver and Kamloops, closed its doors at the end of May. 

Chelsey Moore and Ashley Stephenson had been dreaming of opening their own gym and the timing felt right. 

"It was months of Chelsey and I going to every single space in town that could possibly fit us," Stephenson said. "A lot of them had poles in the way so we couldn't fit our floor and all of our equipment or weren't the right sizes or dimensions." 

Their biggest hurdle was finding the right space, but with early registration numbers, the pair is already considering that they'll need to go larger in the near future. 

"We're probably going to outgrow this space faster than we anticipated," Moore said. 

"It was our five-year plan to outgrow this space and I think we're well ahead of that," Stephenson added. 

The gym is open for anyone aged four and older to try cheer. The coaches said the oldest athlete they have currently is 30, but anyone who wants to learn is welcome to try it out. 

"We're doing age-based training, so they get to train with kids similar to their own age group," Moore stated. "That will really give us a better idea of what competitive teams we can offer in the fall."

The gym is offering multiple levels of competition so athletes can choose the commitment level that works best for them. 

"We're hoping to offer a really elite level of competition, but also a very unintimidating entry level of competition," said Moore. "We really want to create a space for everybody."

Details about summer camps and classes can be found at . Information on fall sessions will be released in July.