As usual UKCA were well represented at ECC 2010 in Helsinki on 10 and 11 July. 16 teams from 5 clubs – Gemini, Hawks, Maximum Cheer, STCA and Wild Spirit Allstars – carried our hopes in a sweltering stadium ironically called the Ice Arena. Off the floor UKCA made an equally important contribution providing 2 of the judges, 2 shadow judges who are now fully qualified at European level and the Head of ECA’s organising committee. A small but enthusiastic band of supporters kept the teams’ spirits up.

The Arena normally hosts ice hockey, which meant there was room for 2 floors and 2 panels of judges. This kept the competition flowing nicely – on the Sunday the super efficient Finns had us nearly an hour ahead of schedule!

Around 1700 athletes from 70 teams who had qualified from their own National Championships gathered to parade their skills. And what skills they were, the Scandinavians and Norway in particular dominating through teams like Viqueens. There is no doubt that the standard of competition gets higher year on year, which is what makes Cheerleading such an exciting sport to be part of right now.

Sadly this year there were no individual events, a rich source of medals in the past for UK. Phoebe Hulme and Rachael Burrows had contributed 5 in the last 3 years, culminating in Rachael’s stunning gold medal performance last year.

So where would the medals come from, if indeed anywhere? Rachael had already served notice of her abilities as a coach whilst still competing and the responsibility of founding and running her own club has allowed those talents to blossom with success at all levels of UKCA competitions this year. The other 4 teams have many years European experience between them.

Saturday was a barren day for the Seniors – the highlight being STCA’s Senior Female stunt group finishing 8th. Perhaps it was asking too much for them to repeat their 4th at the Worlds in a highly competitive discipline.

Sunday started brightly with Maximum Cheer called to the podium in the Junior Mixed Stunt Group category. It was a truly wonderful achievement in their first taste of European competition to win silver. Rachael was understandably bursting with pride at her young teams’ performance. Sadly the other junior teams were unable to build on that success.

All too quickly all the medals and trophies had been awarded and another ECC was over. The best ever? As someone with experience of just the last 3 and an organiser, it would be wrong for me to comment. But judging by the comments and thanks still pouring in it was the place to be last weekend.

Congratulations to all those who competed – just to qualify for that level of competition is an achievement. However we will be working with teams to increase the chances of moving up the rankings and hopefully bringing more medals home in future.

Wow! What a season we have had in N. Ireland following the N. Ireland Schools, Community & Club Championships back in March, N. Ireland has been struck with cheerleading fever and can’t seem to get enough of this addictive and FUN sport.

May Day Bank Holiday saw our cheerleaders take to the streets of Belfast to cheer on the many Marathon runners at 4 stations throughout the city in aid of cancer research. Thank you cheerleaders for supporting the work of the Marie Curie Foundation and Ruth Hope, charity representative, for inviting our cheerleaders to participate.

Cheerleading has certainly taken over my life as UKCA Ireland Rep ( and I must confess I have become positively hooked and got myself involved in the performance side and have been spotted wearing a bow! Don’t quite know how it has happened but it has) with five major engagements as follows :

• Belfast City Council
• Newry & Mourne Council
• Craigavon Intercultural Project in Partnership with the University of Ulster
• Antrim Borough Council/ Antrim Forum
• Irish American Football Association

Belfast City Council are hosting a 2012 sporting Initiative on Friday 23rd July for young people in the greater Belfast area to get active and get involved in sport be it a new or existing main stream sport. Cheerleading has made its mark and I am delighted to have received an invitation to represent UKCA with a 6 hour programme to include taster workshops , come and try sessions with interaction with experienced cheerleaders. The UKCA stand will be featured with current literature being made available to all young people and educators in attendance.

Newry & Mourne Council have confirmed summer workshops with the aim of establishing its first club/classes for September 2010.

The 27th & 29th July and also the 3rd August Newry Sports Centre will host its cheerleading workshops and a big thank you must go to 9 members of the N. Ireland Exhibition Team for travelling to Quays shopping Centre on Friday 2nd July to exhibit and interact with the shoppers during the American Independence weekend celebrations. Once again the UKCA stand was in attendance and the team certainly attracted much interest from many young boys and girls. I look forward to welcoming all budding new cheerleaders to the Newry summer Workshops.

Antrim Borough Council / Antrim Forum

Following the N. Ireland Championships hosted a the Antrim Forum a very enthusiastic centre manager and staff have set a date for a taster sessions and a registration day with the aim of commencing a brand new cheerleading club in the forum. I knew the Manager just had to have another opportunity to grasp our pom poms. Watch out in the local press for full information to register.

Craigavon Intercultural Project in Partnership with the University of Ulster

The biggest highlight of the summer months so far has been UKCA’s involvement in “Sport comes2town” www.sportcomes2town.com. The three day event was a festival of sport, the first of it’s kind and an inaugural pilot project initiated by the University of Ulster under the direction of Nigel Dobson, Co-Director of the Ulster Sports Academy. The aim of which was to bring the sporting message to the borough and raise awareness of the benefits and enjoyment of sport.

Five times gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave and Dame Mary Peters were in attendance as star attractions with the university film crew logging all the action on camera along with local radio station Cool FM and BBC Radio Ulster.

20 sports exhibited with Cheerleading having a major input as a new and fast developing sport thanks to the vision of Nigel Dobson who has witnessed the attraction and dynamics and of course the uniqueness of our sport first hand. Nigel attended the N.Ireland Championships and visited the inaugural 2009 UKCA summer camp and was even then amazed at the diversity, fun, attraction and technicalities of the sport

Thank you to the 75 Cheerleaders from Riada Rockets & Moyle Kestrels who exhibited through out the day to the crowds and also led the samba procession. Through the town centre- girls you certainly raised the spirits of onlookers and attracted very positive feedback , a great credit to our sport.

Thank you also to the 16 gymnasts from Riada Gym Club for exhibiting a wonderful sports acro routine.

Irish American Football Association

To celebrate 4th July – American Independence Day a unique opportunity arose for UKCA to exhibit its amazing sport to American football fans and residents set to enjoy the celebrations planned by Lurgan Council. To this end I accepted an invitation from Greg Loughan, President, to exhibit and promote cheerleading and the first ever N. Ireland Exhibition was formed in June. Many hours of hard work have gone in to preparing and training the team to perform to an expectant crowd. We await with anticipation for what we hope will be a roaring welcome.

Feedback and photos to follow all events and activities.

Watch out for more exciting developments and already a new category is planned for the 2011 Championships.

Karen Graham
N.I. UKCA Rep

Warsaw Cheerleading Association K-12 is very happy to invite all foreign teams on V-th International Warsaw Championships. Competition will be held on 9.10.2010 in Warsaw on Sport Arena “Ko?o”.

On the competition we will have cheer dance division (international in pee wee, junior and senior)and pom dance Rules will be as in ECA (one long routine with obligatory elements) and the competitions will be judged by international judge panel.

We invite all foreign teams (in all age categories) to Warsaw from 8.10 till 10.10.2008

We can offer you a full package for 180 Euro – the costs per person will include:

• Accommodation with breakfast (2 nights) in hotel Aramis
• One dinner on Friday
• Transport (airport-hotel-airport, train station-airport-train station, hotel-sport arena-hotel)
• Starting fee
• Lunch on the competition
• Official supper after competition

We pay for 1 coach. (for the full package)

Money transfers to:
Nordea Bank Polska S.A
SFIWT : NDEAPLP2; IBAN: PL 49 1440 1299 0000 0000 0697 4945

Contact – Ann Polatowska
thunderk12@wp.pl

Best regards
WCA K-12 – RUTA and EDWARD KRAJEWSCY

“We are proud of you, say we are proud of you!”

…rings out across the Gym as Hannah performs her first scorpion! Massive group hugs and well dones are an everyday occurrence in Offerton Cheer Squad, a team of twenty three girls from Years Seven to Eleven at Offerton School, Stockport.

Cheerleading is amazing, it helps us to build our confidence and challenges people’s perceptions of us. When some people hear what we do they brand us with being blonde, thick and obsessed with spelling: “Give us an A….?!” It’s great when we perform at school as it gives us the opportunity to show just what we are – a group of talented athletes and Gymnasts with self-confidence, commitment and most importantly – enthusiasm!

We train for at least three hours a week; working on improving our jumps, dance routines and stunts. We also help coach the younger members of our team as well as spending an hour a week after school coaching girls and boys from Years Three to Six at Fairway Primary Cheerleading.

Over the last three years we have become an increasingly successful team. We came fourth place in our first ever National Schools Championships, 2nd in Pom Dance and 3rd in Stunts the following year and last year were crowned Key Stage Four National Champions with our stunt routine. Even more amazing when you realise that only three members of our team were in Year Ten and the remaining seventeen of us were in Years Seven and Eight!

Although we are incredibly proud of our achievements they are just a bonus in many ways as we would still cheer without them.

Being part of our squad has given us so much. It’s great fun to spend time together, we all support each other and challenge each other to try new things; it has given us the self-confidence to believe that we can perform – even if we are nervous, our cheer faces show that we are having fun. We’ve developed so many leadership and communication skills that we have run Borough Cheerleading and Gymnastics Competitions in Stockport and even ran the Manchester County Primary Cheerleading Competition in May this year!

Our squad is very disciplined and encourages us to stay focused and respect each other as you have to be committed to all aspects of school and training to be part of the team. We believe that we are great ambassadors both in and for our school as we always try our best, support each other and have pride in our team and our school.

Cheerleading has given us the opportunity to make incredible and long lasting friendships, made us stronger both physically and mentally, and above all, no matter what we do or where we go from here; to each other, we will always be Champions!!!

Offerton Cheer Squad 2010

As a graduated Sports Development Student, I personally jumped at the opportunity to volunteer within a role of helping run the UK Cheerleading Association – Northern Ireland National Cheerleading Championships. Within the degree I undertook, there was never any opportunity to engage in anything as immense as these Championships.

In reflection, I feel it would be a credit and tribute to allow university students to undertake the responsibilities, trust and experience of leading and running such a large event. Already from my own experience I have seen first hand the benefits and opportunities this can bring, such as; providing an insight into the organisation and costs that go into running a National event, it will also engage and provide students with experience into an activity and sport which is increasing in popularity both in and out of school, and will furthermore provide students with the opportunity to make contacts (with coaches, judges, schools etc…), which may further help their development in sport and sports development.

As a final input I would like to highlight the most important and enjoyable aspect of volunteering which was seeing and experiencing the excitement, meaning and enjoyment this event brought to all participants, schools, teachers and judges. I found the talent incredible and gave me great motivation to obtain coaching qualifications in and around Cheerleading and Dance.

Deirdre Weatherall

I recently became involved in a Cheerleading event through a friend who is a volunteer Coach. I volunteered my time to help at the Northern Ireland Cheerleading competition in March. I found the people who run the event very friendly and helpful. They were happy to answer any questions I had and their enthusiasm for the sport was very inspirational.

I found the competition a fun experience even though I was meant to be working – it didn’t feel like work! I would urge anyone who wants to have a fun day out and wants to volunteer their time to get involved with UK Cheerleading. After this weekend I have decided I want to be part of this organisation and do my training to be a Cheerleading Coach.

Vicki Wharry

I became involved in volunteering within the N.I Cheerleading Championships through coaching Cheerleading and undergoing my Level 2 Cheerleading Coaching Award. However as a Sports Development student I found this a brilliant and fulfilling experience to encounter.

The event itself is a popular well known occasion, the enthusiasm of the young people, judges, audience and coaches is astonishing. This type of competition gives young people the opportunity to enhance their sporting ability and develop their skills to a high standard, and work towards competition level. The hard work and continuous effort that goes into competitions such as this pays of as the standard and performance of the sport from young people of all ages and abilities, the talent and standard was incredible.

Taking part in this experience has benefited me as it has let me gain more knowledge of the sport in many different aspects, the reason being that you get to partake in a range of different roles throughout the two day event. As a sports student it lets you get involved with people working within your line of work and opens many opportunities for you to pursue your knowledge and learn more. Overall I would recommend this type of voluntary work as it will teach you many different aspects of the running of an event, and develop your experience into a different sport.

Laura Heaney

Wigan’s annual Cheerleading Festvial CHEER 4 WIGAN will be running for the third time on the 29th of June.

This year’s competition promises to be the biggest yet. The organisers have been inundated with entries already and have 6 KS1 teams entered, 25 KS2 teams, and 16 secondary school teams.

It will take place on Tuesday 29th June at Robin Park in Wigan, we have a fun day planned with trophies for all teams participating and an excellent prize for the team that scores the highest score overall, a set of brand new poms.

If you would like to get involved please call Gill on 07973822930.

WSM Shooting Stars attended the Weston-Super-Mare Race for Life – checkout their pictures (and cheers) below.

R A C E
Race for life’s the place to be
come on crowd cheer out loud
tickled pink lets make them proud

Hey you on the sand
give your self a great big hand

We are proud of you
yes we are proud of you
We are proud of you
yes we are proud of you
We are proud of you
yes we are proud of you

Be part of the largest celebration leading up to the Games.

It’s less than two months to go until London 2012 Open Weekend supported by BP, have you set your challenge?

This year we are inviting organisations and venues from sport and culture to set a challenge that the public can take part in. You could challenge the public to write and perform a play in an hour; score 10 goals in a minute; or identify the different types of wildlife at your local nature reserve. Big or small, for 10 or 1000 people, a quiz or a performance, it’s your challenge – so you decide!

All we ask is that your event:

Takes place between 23-25 July 2010
Sets a challenge that the public can participate in
Is non-commercial and not-for-profit
Does not have any commercial sponsorship or offer any similar marketing rights
Is open to everyone
Over 200 events have already registered for Open Weekend, helping to celebrate two years to go until the 2012 Games. Why not join them? Set your challenge today and celebrate with thousands of people across the UK.

Visit london2012.com/openweekend to find out more.

New for 2010

Brand Centre
By registering your challenge and creating your event listing you will be given access to the exclusive Open Weekend Brand Centre. From the Brand Centre you will be able to download the Open Weekend logo (available immediately) for use on your marketing materials, plus the London 2012 Campaign artwork (available from June).

Are you an organisation from the built, historic or natural environment?
If you are, you may be eligible to be part of Discovering Places which is launching during Open Weekend; for more information please contact c.bull@heritagelink.org.uk

The Open Weekend team is here to help with any enquiries you may have. If you would like to discuss your registration with a member of the team please email us at openweekend@london2012.com or contact Ruth Langford-Johnson or Roli Barker on 0203 2012 000.

Join us in setting over 800 sport, art and culture challenges to warm up the nation at the two years to go mark!

The event went brilliantly with 38 teams competing – we may need a bigger event next year!

RESULTS of COUNTY POM DANCE COMPETITION 2010

Special Schools
Primary
1st Brooke Allstars(and County Champions)
2ndRidgeway Rockettes
Secondary
1st Brooke Twirly Birds(and County Champions)
2nd Round Oak Rockers

Warwickshire Pom Dancers

Pom Dancers

Over 250 young people, aged 6 – 18 years, from across the region came together for the first North East StreetGames Street Cheer and Dance event at Burnside Business & Enterprise College in North Tyneside. The event was organised by StreetGames in partnership with North Tyneside Council’s Widening Horizons for Sport programme, Street Cheer and NE Music Factory.

The event kicked off with a mass participation session led by Hannah Goulding from Street Cheer who devised this relatively new and very popular discipline of Cheerleading. Over 250 young people of all ages were put through their paces and taught an exciting new routine which they can go away and expand on in the weekly sessions they attend.

This was followed by an introductory session to Urban Flow, a brand new type of street dance which has been written and accredited by NE Music Factory. NE Music Factory are a Community Interest Company based in Blyth who work in close partnership with StreetGames to deliver all types of dance to a large number of community groups across the region.

The afternoon saw the start of the Street Cheer Competition, with the Peeps category groups taking to the floor. The Peeps category represent the under 12 age group and the eleven teams each displayed excellent routines. The category was won by the Little Dudes from the Jenny Gallagher Performance Academy, which was an extra special victory in ac activity that is dominated by girls, as the whole team is made up of boys. The runners up, also from the Jenny Gallagher Performance Academy, were the Dangerous crew, but each and every team who took part deserved to be recognised for their commitment and enthusiasm.

It was then the turn of the older groups to showcase their talent on the dance floor and it proved to be a heavily fought contest. The judges struggled to pick just one winner and therefore awarded the winners trophies to two crews; Misdemeanour and Notorious, both of whom came from NE Music Factory sessions.

The most sought after and popular award of the event though is the Spirit Award. Each and every team taking part on the day are eligible to win this title, which is awarded to the team who show the most enthusiasm, team spirit and fair play on the day. The proud winners on the day were the Paglets, a group from Pallion Action Group in Sunderland, all of whom are aged 6 – 10 years.

The festival was organised by StreetGames, a charity dedicated to developing sporting opportunities for young people living in disadvantaged communities.

Gemma Hollywood, StreetGames Co-ordinator in the North East, who organised the event in partnership with North Tyneside Council’s Sports Development team and Street Cheer, said “We were delighted to have organised this event along with the support from the Widening Horizons for Sport programme. This is the first Street Cheer specific competition that we have ran in the North East and it has proved to be extremely popular. The event gave young people the opportunity to showcase what they have been practicing over the last year at weekly StreetGames sessions. It was also a great opportunity to introduce people to the activity who may have only just started taking part or are thinking of becoming involved.”

Su Cumming, the regional representative for StreetGames, is very keen to see the event build in popularity in the future;

Su said, “This was a fantastic opportunity for all our young people to show their talents in a fun and friendly environment. The event was a fantastic finale to this year’s StreetGames programme and demonstrates how StreetGames continues to grow across the region providing sporting activities to many young people who would not usually have access to these kind of opportunities.”