A team of kids, ages 10 through 14 years old, are heading to the happiest place on earth to do what they love doing.
Langley Cheer & Athletics Ltd., a local cheerleading facility, is sending their junior 3 team, called Jade, to one of the most prestigious cheerleading competitions in North America, said head coach and co-owner Nikole Davie.
They’re going to The Summit in Orlando, Fla. The Varsity All Star produced event runs May 3 to 6, at Walt Disney World Resort’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, Davie explained.
This is the “season-capping goal for many competitive all-star teams,” she said.
The 2018 Summit will showcase more than 3,000 teams from across Canada and the United States and will include performances in the newly opened arena at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, which officially opened in January and is the first facility in the world built specifically for cheer and dance competitions.
“Teams competing at The Summit must receive a bid at a prior competition during the season, in order to be eligible to participate,” Davie explained.
“We are so excited to be sending our second team in as many years to The Summit. Being such a new gym, this is a huge accomplishment for our athletes and staff,” she added.
All-star cheerleading is a discipline of cheerleading that is open to all ages and skill levels.
And according to the part owner, Langley Cheer believes that all-star cheerleading is the most inclusive sport available to young athletes.
“There is a team for everyone at Langley Cheer,” Davie added.
In order to make it to The Summit, Langley Cheer athletes had to succeed at a bid event held earlier in the competitive season. Davie explained that as bid event competitions took place all across North America over various weekends this season, cheerleaders – like the junior 3 all-star team – were glued to Varsity TV on Monday evenings to find out if their weekend’s performance qualified them to join their elite peers in Orlando.
Fans at home can watch a livestream of the event on Varsity TV on Varsity.com.