A Catterick-based cheerleading team has been left in shock after they were successful in their bid to take part in the World Championship Cheerleading finals.
Lazer Cheer Academy’s level 5 team Lady Reign in Colburn, Catterick, fought off a number of other teams from across the country at Jamfest Europe in Liverpool to be awarded an “at large bid.”
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The news was “very unexpected” according to Mandy Foreman, Lazer Cheer Academy’s program director, as it was the teams first time competing at level 5 and first time attending a bid event.
She added: “It’s their first time out you see and it’s a brand new level for them this year and it was their first time ever trying for a bid so yeah, it was just amazing.”
Ms Foreman continued to stress that the team was “absolutely chuffed” after their win as they were unsure if they could do it.
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She added: “We were absolutely chuffed with the win, there’s a lot of teams that attend to go for bids and there’s only a certain amount that they give out at each competition.”
The all-girls team, which is made up of seasoned athletes, started training in September last year and have since been training as a development team so they could develop skills further due to it being the first time they had trained together as a team.
Ms Foreman said: “But then we got to this point in the season and we thought let’s give it a go, and then they did it first time out.”
Although the team is made up of seasoned athletes, they were also a bit inexperienced with large crowds, Ms Foreman added.
She said: "So just to get them used to a lot of people being there, we had showcases at our gym all last week, so we had lots of families, parents and kids to support them.
“It’s nice for the kids to see them because they just idolise these older girls.”
The World Championship Cheerleading final takes place over three days and will be held in Florida next year.
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Competing teams from across the world will take part in the event, each fighting for the title in their won division.
The team had been out of competition for two years due to Covid-19 and had just recently moved into their own new gym in Colburn last year.
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