Before beginning their practice, the Durham Divas circle up and hold hands and are led through a small prayer by team member Joni Ridick (not pictured).
Team Captain Louise Gooche runs through one of the routines as Coach Althea Williams (right) instructs team mates. Gooche began the program in 2004 after seeing other senior citizens using cheerleading as an exercise and thought, "Hey, we can do that too!"
Vanessa Dunston and Edna Titus catch a brief water break after going through their warm-up exercises.
A Diva's pom-pom is outstreched containing a sequence of cheers from a performance past.
Coach Williams sits atop an exercise ball and watches her cheerleaders like a hawk, quick to correct but always kind and encouraging. Williams stepped up as coach soon after the team formed. "I've been a teacher all my life so coaching the team came naturally to me," Williams said.
Mary Walker takes a moment to rest and observe one of the routines after the team had trouble nailing it.
Frances Cagle gets low during a hip-hop routine. "Embrace your inner-gangster, I want this to be 'thug-life", Coach Williams told the team as they went through the cheer.
Captain Gooche's shirt reads, "What happens with Divas, stays with Divas."
"Go Divas!", Coach Williams shouts as the team brings it together in a huddle at the end of their hip-hop routine.
Before beginning their practice, the Durham Divas circle up and hold hands and are led through a small prayer by team member Joni Ridick (not pictured).
