This past February the Parkland Varsity Cheerleading Team competed at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando, Florida, and made history. Since August, the team has practiced vigorously to compete at a high level. They had practices, games, or competitions almost every day of the week. Head coach, Alyssa Feher, said, “The varsity team put in many hours both in and outside of the gym since the start of the season in August. The team was working with the strength and conditioning coaches at Parkland to work on building strength and endurance to get through the routine. We also had private training sessions at Parkettes to improve tumbling and stunting skills.” 

The team’s hard work lead them to place at the UCA Northeast Regional Competition, which qualified them for the National Competition. 

Despite the fact that their ultimate goal was to reach the national competition, they were not satisfied yet. “Going into the competition the team’s mindset was to do our best but also to hit all of our skills. We didn’t want to come this far to mess up now. So, even though we were all so nervous, we made sure to keep a positive mindset throughout it all,” stated cheerleader, Carly Becker (12). 

There were 1,183 teams in all at the competition and 108 teams in their division, Small Varsity Division 1. They were guaranteed to perform once, but needed to execute everything perfectly to move on to the quarterfinals and perform again. With incredible teamwork, they became the first Parkland Cheer Team to ever make it to the quarterfinals. Coach Feher rejoiced, “Advancing to the quarterfinals has been the biggest accomplishment in my coaching career! This was Parkland’s first year attending the National High School Cheerleading Championship in several years. Receiving a bid to attend the competition was the goal as my first year as head coach, so advancing to day 2 and making history was just the icing on the cake!” 

Making history wasn’t the only excitement this team enjoyed during their trip in Florida. They stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort and spent time bonding at the happiest place on earth by going to Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. “The two best parts of the trip were finding out we were going to compete again, but also coming out on the mat through the Disney castle with my teammates who will be my forever friends,” Jaylynn Bennett (12) remarked.

While the team did not advance past quarter-finals, they performed well on this trip and also bonded with their cheer family. But, being at Disney was not what made this trip magical. It was the spirit, execution, hard work, and bond of the team that allowed them to make history.  

This article previously ran in the April print edition