This year our competitive cheer team made their way to nationals at Disney in Orlando, Florida. After lots of trials and tribulations, the team made it to state where they got a bid for nationals.

   “The first day we went to the Animal Kingdom, and the second day we went to compete, then you just have free park days the rest of the week,” junior Kate Black said. 

   While in Orlando, the team had the opportunity to do more than just compete, they were also able to explore, shop, and do activities with other teams. 

 “We stayed at the Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, and we got to pick our rooms before we left,” Black said.

   Rooms and organization were all planned prior to the trip, with four girls to a room everyone got to spend time with thrift teammates and allow their bonds to grow stronger with one another although they did not all have to stay together, or with their roommates when exploring the parks. 

“When walking around the park, we could split up but we had to stay in groups of three, and we would have a certain time and place to meet up,” Black said.

   Various messaging apps ensured all the team members were safe through the free days. There was a clear expectation of when and where to meet rather than staying in one huge group all day. Visiting the parks was a big highlight of their trip, but competing was the most important activity.

   “We competed in the D1 all girls medium divisions. Everyone is in different divisions. You can compete on day one, two and three but we only made it to day one,” Black said.

   They competed in Division one, which is the toughest division to get into and compete in. A division is a group of teams who play a sport at a similar competitive level, Division one is the highest level of competition in college sports. Although they only made it to the first day of competition they still met their goals of just making it to nationals, and they all accomplished individual achievement and growth.  

   “You had to pay some competition fees and once we got to nationals, we had to pay for all of our food. Our boosters have helped pay this year but I’d still say it’s kind of expensive to go. You can control how much money you spend, but I spent a lot,” Black said. 

   The overall cost of the trip was substantially lowered by the help of boosters. Boosters are donations to help support a sports team or an organization.

   “Our goal as a team was to make it to nationals because we didn’t plan on competing, and then we decided we would,” Black said.

   Since the team didn’t plan on competing for a while, getting back into the game and competing to make it to nationals was harder than it usually would be but they still met their goal. 

   “We met some teams from New York, and some of us went to the football field on our free day and stunted with other teams,” Black said.

   Nationals gave the girls the opportunity to create bonds and friendships with people that live miles away and with people they see everyday.