We are delighted to announce that Year 12 students Ruby Blenkiron and Grace Newton were selected to represent the UK and compete at the Summit All Star Cheerleading World Championships in Florida recently. The Cheerleading World Championships attract competitors from all over the world including the USA, Canada, Germany and Sweden. They finished 8th out of 20 teams that qualified, a phenomenal achievement! 

After arriving in Kissimmee, Florida both Ruby and Grace had some free time to watch other teams compete before training commenced at Top Gun Orlando, a world-class facility for one of the most well-known teams in this discipline. The following day they were also taken to Brandon All Stars training ground, which was an hour and a half bus journey away where they trained with all the other summit teams from the North East. 

Ruby and Grace both agreed that the best part of the trip was achieving their end-of-season goal, making it to the final after the qualifying day. “It was an amazing experience to compete with the best of the best and to qualify for the final and then go on to be placed 8^th in the world!” commented Ruby. Grace echoed this, adding “We just wanted to go out and enjoy the experience together, as it was potentially the last time we will compete together as a team.”

After the competition had finished, Ruby and Grace spent the last two days at Disney World resorts including Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Followed by a team meal with all the 75+ athletes, coaches and backroom staff with the theme ‘white night’ at Disney Springs. They finished off the trip by relaxing around the pool at the villa with their family. 

Other highlights included meeting the Cheer team, ‘the Lady Jags’, that they have admired for many years. Also they were both lucky to meet La’Darius Marshall, a Cheerleader and TV personality on Netflix.

Congratulations to both girls, an experience of a lifetime!