On a Wednesday evening in late February, Dominic Mayberry stood behind a pyramid of cheerleaders, helping lift and catch the flyer as she soared through the air. He and his teammates wear black practice uniforms bedazzled with red and silver rhinestones.
Dominic was at KC Cheer, a competitive cheerleading gym in Lenexa. Dominic loves to cheer so much, he’s actually in two programs. He cheers for his college team at the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, too.
“Cheerleading is my entire world. It's one of the reasons why I want to get out of bed every day,” he said. “It's just that outlet to get away from school, problems in life and everything.”
Dominic has been cheerleading for more than a decade. Currently, he practices 4 days a week and travels to competitions some weekends.
A few years ago, in the summer of 2023, Dominic’s cheer season was almost interrupted. His mother, Brandy Kline, had a large blood clot in a major artery. She underwent surgery and was unable to work for months.
Kline is a single mom and that summer, she was supporting a household of five people. She said Dominic’s cheer costs about $6,000 to $8,000 per season.
“I didn't know if his dreams were about to be crushed or not,” Kline said.
She said paying cheer expenses on top of her medical bills and living costs felt impossible. But then, the Finish Strong Foundation stepped in. The nonprofit paid the rest of Dominic’s fees so he could finish the season.
Kline said she was very thankful for the foundation’s help. She’s always viewed sports as an important part of her four children’s lives.
“Sometimes, just these kids being in sports at a younger age keeps them out of trouble,” Kline said. “I have always pushed sports in all my children's lives.”
The Finish Strong Foundation’s start
Crystal Stockton started the Finish Strong Foundation in 2018 in honor of her husband, Mike Tanner, who died that year. Tanner, a construction worker, was involved in an explosion five years before his death. Stockton said he had dozens of surgeries and struggled with complications.
After the accident, they went from being financially stable to struggling. Stockton said they had to lean on their community to help pay for their kids’ sports.
“That was our biggest concern,” she said. “We will pay the bills. We will pay our own bills. We will figure things out. But now we're going to need help with the extracurricular type stuff.’”
Stockton’s son wrestled and played baseball, while her daughter played softball, volleyball and was a competitive gymnast. She said Tanner was an avid “sports dad.”
“He was at every game, every meet, every competition, every tournament as long as he could be,” Stockton said. “He just knew that sports were super important to kids and how they grow up and how they become responsible adults.”
Tanner grew up unable to participate in sports due to cost, said Stockton. Because of that, before the accident, they helped other families pay for sports costs.
Stockton said the foundation started with donations and focuses on helping kids who go through similar circumstances — like a close family member experiencing injury, illness or death. The group helps pay for sports fees or equipment.
There are multiple programs to help low-income kids afford sports, but not as many focused on specific situations like medical debt.
“It's the kiddos that everything is riding along fine and then all of a sudden tragedy hits,” she said. “There's not a lot out there for them.”
Stockton said the group primarily serves kids in Missouri and Kansas, but her goal is to grow and reach more states.
According to KFF, a nonprofit research organization, 41% of American adults are burdened by medical debt. About 72% of those adults said their debt came from a short-term medical expense, like an accident or hospital stay.
Sports as a “safe place” for young athletes
Dominic said that without Finish Strong, he probably would have had to quit cheer, at least temporarily.
“That was my building year to get a lot better at what I was doing,” he said. “If I had to stop, that would have just put a really big roadblock in the skills that I have now.”
And he said having practice to look forward to during difficult times helped with his mental health during his mother’s illness.
“It was my outlet,” he said, “to get away from all those hard feelings that were going through my head and just be with my team.”
Today, Dominic is pursuing a degree in business management. He hopes to own his own cheer gym one day.
The Estes family
Another family helped by the foundation is the Estes family of Kansas City, Kansas. Seth Estes worked moving trailers and crashed because of a seizure. He was later diagnosed with a type of epilepsy, and he said his doctors told him it’s no longer safe to work.
In 2025, Estes couldn’t afford baseball for his son until Finish Strong helped.
“They made my summer. I couldn't do it for my son and as a father that's detrimental,” Estes said. “That hurts.”
Estes said the foundation paid the team fees for his son, Leland, as well as gate fees so he could watch games. He said he’s grateful to Finish Strong and he hopes one day he can donate to the foundation to help other kids.
Leland is also grateful to Finish Strong. He said baseball helped him process what was happening in his life at the time.
“Baseball was kind of a lifestyle at one point. It was a way to escape a lot of my emotions,” he said. “It was a safe place.”
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio.
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