The Rocky Mountain Cheer team is going to nationals! Nationals is a very big cheer competition held in Anaheim, California. They leave on the 23^rd of February and stay for a whole week. To get there they take a plane as a whole team. While they are there for the cheer competition they even get to go to Disneyland for a day! Nationals are a great privilege to go to and seeing as they rarely go it is very exciting for them to be going this year. But how are they going to prepare for this competition? How are the teammates feeling about it?

Competing at a competition is a very big thing for a cheer team. Every practice all for a 2 minute and 30 second routine, which they only have one shot at. Unlike other sports like basketball, they have multiple chances to score but with cheer they get one opportunity to hit their routine perfectly in front of everybody. When it comes to getting 1^st place it is all about points. The judges judge the performance and give the score they seem fit, the team wants the highest score possible. Just one mistake could cost 1^st place, multiple teams always lose 1^st place even by a 1-point difference, that is why it is so important to hit your routine perfectly.

That said, how do cheerleaders feel going to nationals? Hailey Mejia grade 9 “I feel so happy and excited to go! My dad’s even going to watch so that is very exciting!” When asked if she feels prepared for nationals “Definitely! Personally, my stunts are very good, and I feel prepared I’m just worried for everyone else.” Mya Daniel Grade 9 “I am super excited for Disney; I’m also excited for traveling. And I feel like after state we will be prepared.” Cheer is not all about being better than your teammates or how good you do because at the end of the day it takes the whole team for every part of the routine and all you can do is hope your teammate does their part.

Rocky’s Cheer team is extremely excited for nationals but also incredibly nervous. A lot of time and effort is put into their routines. Each teammate tries very hard and does their best to bring their all to the routines. Nationals is going to be an incredibly fun experience for the team however it is going to take a lot of effort from them. With this the team is practicing hard and getting prepared for nationals, in a month along with going to other competitions before making sure they are at their best.