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Kings Plaza kids have spirit

Give me a G, give me an O, give me a … ah, forget it — Go Brooklyn!

The illustrious members of the Kings Plaza Kids Club learned how to flip, toss, and — most importantly — cheer on June 23, when the all-star competitive cheerleaders from Empire State Athletics came down to center court to show Kings County tots the fundamentals of side-line spirit boosting.

“The kids were invited in and they were taught how to do these cheerleading stunts,” said John Scaturro, marketing director at the Marine Park shopping center. “They did stunts, they did flips and acrobatics, stuff the cheerleaders do in competition.”

More than 100 members of the Kids Club — a free program for kids ages 2 to 12 that gives access to special member-only events every month — attended the demonstration, during which they learned basic tumbling skills like handstands, forward rolls, and cartwheels, as well as a new dance to practice at home.

The Empire State Athletic cheerleading squad — which recently came in third place at the International cheerleading competition at Disney World — was so well received by the Kids Club that 34 tots were signed up for the cheer squad’s free lesson.

“We try to do anything that we can to help within the community,” said Empire State Athletics co-owner Madiha Butt. “We may be for-profit, but we’re trying to add something to the community that it doesn’t have, and we are the only competitive all-star cheerleading program in Brooklyn.”

Reach reporter Colin MIxson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.