About Victory Sports
VICTORY VIPERS PRESS RELEASES
March 3, 2004, 3:37PM
On top of the world
Sugar Land couple offering fitness to youths, their parents
By DEBRA MCGAUGHEY
Copyright 2004 Houston ChronicleVicki Dill points to a stack of crumbling, blue tumbling mats and smiles.
"I can't get rid of them," she said. "The girls won't let me. The mats hold a lot of memories for us. All those times we carried them out of my minivan for those backyard practices."
Dill can get away with not using those old mats. She has plenty of others to take their place. And the days of the roving, broken down minivan are long gone.
Vicki and Rob Dill are owners of Victory Sports Cheerleading and Gymnastics, a seven-year-old cheerleading facility specializing in training competitive cheerleaders. Victory Sports occupies a brand-new, 21,000-square-foot, million-dollar cheerleading facility and fitness center in Sugar Land the Dills had built specifically for their program.
This Saturday, Victory Sports will hold an open house from 1-4 p.m. at 750 Sartartia Road, near the Grand Parkway and U.S. 90A.
The center also has a 800-square-foot "tumble pit," a large, swimming-pool-shaped area recessed in the floor and filled with hundreds of foam blocks. This pit is where a beginning tumbler can land after completing a back flip or other gymnastic maneuver. The building includes a fitness center, a health-club-style room featuring 43 pieces of exercise equipment, said Rob Dill, an American Council on Exercise certified trainer and financial manager of Victory Sports.Not a bad step-up for Vicki Dill, who began training cheerleaders in 1996 by traveling to day-care centers and homeowners' back yards.
"We used to practice in a woman's house," said Vicki Dill, a former Houston Rockets dancer and longtime coach and judge for Universal Cheerleading Association. "It was like, `watch out for the fan, watch out for the deer antlers.' To be able to finally spread out and grow now is awesome."
Dill, who grew up in Kansas and McAllen, was a cheerleader and competitive gymnast throughout junior high, high school and college at Southwest Texas State University. She got her degree in education and took a job teaching reading at George Junior High in Rosenberg. "Vicki said she wanted to have her own business by the time she was 25," said Rob Dill. "And she made it."
But the business was small. Vicki got her students for squads, now called the Victory Vipers, through word of mouth. Practices were held wherever Dill could find space. Eventually, the group rented some room at The Club in New Territory. More girls signed on.
In 1998, the business moved to a gray, two-room metal building on U.S. 90A at the edge of the Brazos River in Richmond, and stayed for five years. Though the gym was cramped, business began to boom. Viper squads began winning national awards at cheerleading competitions. The black-and-white uniformed cheerleaders began to get noticed.
"We were called the `Cinderella Squad' when we went to nationals in Florida," said Megan Brock, 18, who has been training with Vicki since the early days. "In our first year at nationals, we made it to finals and got seventh place. And we were up against veteran gyms with a lot of experience."
A year later, Vicki met Rob Dill.
"She was training my nieces, and my sister set us up on a blind date," he said. Dill, who grew up in Conroe and was working as a stockbroker in Tyler, said, "We were both successful, and we weren't looking for a latchkey. It was just awesome. Love at first sight."
"We got engaged a month later, and married four months after that," said Vicki Dill. "We are so alike. We're both Aries and born five days apart."
A year ago, the Dills began planning their building and found a lot near New Territory.
Now, more than 245 girls and one boy from ages 3 1/2 to 18 participate on 10 teams. The teams attend up to 10 competitions a year in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and other Texas cities.
"When I first walked in here, I couldn't believe it was ours, after being cramped for all those years," Vicki Dill said. "I just feel like everything is running much more smoothly. This is where we belong."
Having a fitness center takes the business to another level, said Rob Dill, a cheerleader for four years at Sam Houston State University who earned his degree in science and sports medicine.
"As with most cheerleading gyms, parents drop their children off or stay and watch them from a special parents' viewing area," Rob Dill said. "But out fitness center allows parents a chance to significantly improve their health while their children are busy in class."
"It was hectic in the beginning, all those pads in the back of the van," said Dwayne Price, father of Megan, 14, a national champion in tumbling who also dreams of opening a cheerleading gym. "Megan has learned everything from Vicki. And what I like about Vicki is she can do everything she asks these girls to do. She's like a second mother to them. Vicki's wonderful."
"We have come so far," said Auburn Human, 17. "Vicki knows every routine of every squad, and everyone by name. She is a role model."
And no one misses those torn-up mats. "But we'll keep them," Vicki Dill said, "just to remind us of where we've been."
Victory Vipers Owners:
Vicki Dill – Owner, Coach and Founder vickidill8@aol.com
Rob Dill – Owner, Fitness Trainer, Billing Director, robdill8@aol.com
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Victory Vipers Cheerleading has new location
-The Herald Coaster- pg. 5
Victory Sports Cheerleading & Gymnastics, home of national champion Victory Vipers cheerleaders, has moved from Richmond into a new, state-of-the-art facility in Sugar land.
The new Victory Sports center, with a total of 21,000 square feet, will offer a myriad of classes in competitive cheerleading, floor gymnastics and tumbling and other sports, as well as a state-of-the-art fitness center with 43 pieces of premium health-club quality equipment.
A grand opening celebration is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 6th at 750 Sartartia Rd., near the Grand Parkway and New Territory Boulevard in Sugar land. The event is open to the public.
Cheerleading enthusiasts can enhance their skills on a new 6,000-square-foot spring floor, one of the largest in Texas. An 800-square-foot tumbling pit, larger than many neighborhood swimming pools, is also a featured element in the facility and will offer world-class training and safety.
“We’re inviting everyone who loves cheerleading and fitness to come by and see what we have to offer in our new building,” says head coach Vicki Dill. “It’s a good way to meet us, our staff, learn about our philosophy and teaching style, and what’s involved in our upcoming tryouts for 2004 cheerleading teams March 29 through April 1.”
The new building is a dream come true for Vicki and Rob Dill, who began Victory Sports on a shoestring seven years ago. Vicki Dill, a former competitive gymnast, cheerleading instructor for Universal Cheerleading Association (USA), middle school reading teacher and Houston Rockets dancer, is a graduate of Southwest Texas State University. She wanted to open a gym where she could share her love of cheerleading and teaching.
In its early years, Victory Sports occupied rented space at The Club at New Territory. Two years later, the facility operated from a leased, two-room building near the Brazos River in Richmond. Despite cramped conditions, the Dills and their staff helped the distinctively dressed, black-and-white outfitted cheerleading teams amass a slew of national cheerleading awards, and set itself apart as one of the elite gyms in the greater Houston area.
Rob Dill, financial manager of Victory Sports, was a cheerleader for four years at Sam Houston State University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Corporate Fitness and Recreation, and has long dreamed of using his training on a professional level.
The new Victory Sports fitness center is an exciting element, he says.“As with most cheerleading gyms, parents drop their children off for classes or stay to watch them from a special parents’ viewing area,” Dill says. “But our fitness center allows parents a chance to significantly improve their own health and fitness while their children are busy in class.
“We think this is the way to go, offering fitness for the entire family,” Dill adds. “With so many demands on parents these days, it’s hard for them to find time to keep themselves in shape. We hope parents will take time to check out our sate-of-the-art equipment and use it regularly.”
Tryouts for 2004 cheerleading teams will be held March 29 through April 1. Parent information meetings will be held 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 11, and 8-9 p.m. March 25.
Victory Sports has 10 cheerleading teams with more than 245 girls and boys, from 3 and a half to 18 years old. There are nine full-time and part-time coaches. Classes will be available in competitive cheerleading and tumbling. The center also offers school squad instruction, private lessons, karate and twirling. Birthday parties and sleepovers are also available.
To get to the new location, use the Grand Parkway, Sand Hill to the west, then Williams Landing to Sartartia.