The Storm and Shooting Stars teams from Muskoka Elite Cheer & Tumbling in Bracebridge won a bid to attend the championship, which runs from May 4 to 7 in Orlando, at the Cheer Challenge Cup in late February. Storm includes 15 athletes ages 11 to 16 while the Shooting Stars is made up of 20 cheerleaders from seven to 12 years old. Jaclyn Brown’s daughter Salem has been with the Shooting Stars for two seasons now. When Jaclyn heard about the bid to the championships, it brought tears to her eyes.

“I was one of the lucky ones to be in the gym when the news was announced, and all of the girls on my daughter’s team were sitting watching the TV and just basically waiting to see if their team name would be announced,” Jaclyn said. “It was and everyone screamed.”

Jaclyn said it gives her chills just thinking about the announcement, especially because the team was in a very different position a year ago. Salem did gymnastics before moving to Muskoka, but her family struggled to find a program in the region. She checked out some dance classes before finding cheerleading, and it took just one day for her to declare that cheer was even better than gymnastics.

Since then, both Salem and the rest of her team have come a long way, Jaclyn said. She and Salem have been watching videos from last season, and seeing her growth over the last year and a half gives Jaclyn goosebumps.

“She’s grown as a human being just in height alone, but her skills have improved,” Jaclyn said. “She went from doing a walkover for fun to [being] very nearly at her back handspring, and her personality just shines through.”

The championships will be a cheer event like no other, Jaclyn said, so she can’t wait to see hundreds of teams at different skill levels come together. On top of seeing her daughter perform, she’s happy to know that her daughter will get a chance to see the other athletes showcase their skills.

“The way they throw these human beings in the air is just crazy, and it’ll be good to see our younger girls, our Level 1 team, see what they could do if they just stick to it,” she said. “I think this will be a very good experience for the team as a whole, and I like as a parent that I get to watch the teams and have fun, but I also get to watch my daughter’s reaction to it and I think that’s priceless.”

Salem is excited about many parts of the trip, including the plane ride, which will be her first. “I’m also looking forward to seeing other teams compete because I want to see their advances,” she said. “And spending time with my team in Disney and at the water parks, it’s going to be so much fun.”

She’s also ready for the hard work of the competition, particularly when it comes to performing stunts.

“It’s a group activity and we all have to work together to nail the routine, and it’s super fun,” she said. “I also like watching other teams compete because they are really good and strong.”

Fellow Shooting Stars teammate Baylee Slute shares many of the same emotions. Just like Salem, it will be her first trip to the states and her first ride on a plane, creating a mix of nerves and excitement.

She also shares Salem’s love for stunts, especially when it comes to being part of pyramids or holding up another athlete in the air. With eight years of dance experience and a year of recreational cheer under her belt, Slute knows more than most how much time and effort competitive cheer takes.

“It’s not just pom-poms,” Slute said. “It takes a lot of skill.”

Tony Bentley, owner and head coach at Muskoka Elite Cheer & Tumbling, oversees both teams with the help of assistant coaches. He said he was managing his expectations going into the qualifying event, but after seeing the rankings from the first day of competition, he felt good about their chances.

“Every time they succeed at something, it just kind of warms my heart as their coach,” Bentley said. “They work pretty hard and I only see them four hours a week, but I’ve been working with some of these kids for as many as four years. It’s almost like parenting— when they’re excited, you’re excited.”

The first major step after getting the news was to start fundraising, he said. So far, they’ve received $39,000 in pledges thanks to the efforts of parent volunteers. They’re hoping to raise between $72,000 and $80,000 to help cover flights, registration and other costs associated with the trip.

The team has put together a corporate donation package and is planning a silent auction, so all the details for potential donors will be available on their website in the near future. Supporters can also reach out directly to Bentley or donate to the team’s existing fundraising page. In the meantime, the teams will be working on preparing for the competition itself.

“Both are going to be upgrading their routines, so taking the routines that we have now and adding [to them], particularly in difficulty, before we get down to the United States,” he said. “The biggest one is just cleaning up the execution and making sure that the routines look as presentable as possible when they’re down there.”

This is the first time the club has traveled together to a large event in the US, he said, so it’s a feather in their cap as an organization. It’s also the first time he knows of a Muskoka-based cheer team qualifying for an event like this, so it’s an exciting accomplishment for all involved.

Bentley hopes to bring the girls to train at one of the more famous cheer gyms in Orlando along with hosting team bonding events like special practices and team dinners. Still, he said, the main focus of their trip will be staying in competition mode and executing their routines as best as they can.

“It wasn’t something we were really anticipating this year,” Bentley said, “but now that we are on this journey, it’s a very exciting one.”

To donate, visit the team’s GoFundMe page or contact Tony Bentley at tony@muskokaelite.com. Watch the video below to see the Shooting Stars find out they had won a bid for the championship.

The post Two Muskoka Cheer Teams Qualify For Allstar World Championship appeared first on Muskoka411.

The Valley Sharks team is based out of Cheer Sport Sharks Orillia. The team is made up of girls ages 11 to 16 who come from Orillia and Muskoka as well as places like Kawartha Lakes and Seabright. They’ve been training together since June 2022, and they quickly developed a sisterly bond, said coach Kira Bellisle. Attending the championships is a dream for many of the cheerleaders, and the support of sponsors will help the athletes and their families make it to the states this May. Sponsors will have their logo included on a banner used for team photos and featured on the team’s social media.

“This trip and competition can be very costly, and we are fundraising like crazy so these girls can experience this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Bellisle said. “Alongside sponsorships, we will be accepting raffle items if anyone would prefer to support [by] donating items. Anything helps, there is no minimum, [and] we appreciate all the love and support from our community members.”

Bellisle said they found out they had an opportunity to apply for a bid to the championships at one of their regular competitions. They jumped at the chance to apply, which meant they had to outscore the other teams to qualify. They ended up with the highest score in the competition that day, she said, securing an impressive win as well as their bid to worlds.

They have lots of practice along with three Ontario competitions ahead of them before the championships. In Florida, they have two team practices, a team dinner and team bonding activities planned ahead of the competition to help them get accustomed to their surroundings, Bellisle said.

Bellisle has been cheerleading for 19 years and coaching for six. She has attended the Allstar Cheerleading Championships as an athlete for 10 years and won her first world championship in 2022 alongside her Star Spotted team. It’s been surreal for her to see the team she’s coaching succeed in this way while also forming such strong friendships.

“Watching my girls earn their bid to the Allstar World Cheerleading Championships was a pride and joy I’ve never felt before,” Bellisle said. “I am so immensely proud of the work my girls have already put in and am so excited to see where the rest of the season will bring us.”

Gravenhurst resident Jude Panthel is 13 years old and in her fifth year of cheerleading. She found cheer and the Valley Sharks through gymnastics and quickly fell in love. Most people she meets think of cheerleading as the sideline work at football games and other sporting events, so she loves to spread the word about what competitive cheer really is.

“Competition cheerleading is basically you work on a performance with stunting, tumbling, jumps and a dance, and you put it all into one performance,” Jude said. “Then you go to competitions where you perform it in front of a big audience, and they score you out of a hundred and fifty points, and sometimes you can get a bid to go to worlds.”

When she heard the news about the championships, she fell to the floor out of excitement. She can’t wait to perform at such a big competition as well as visit Universal during her first trip to the states. Competing is always a nerve-wracking but thrilling experience for Jude, and she’s looking forward to doing it alongside her teammates.

“I love all the connections you make with people,” Jude said. “It’s so fun making friends, and the coaches are really nice. That’s probably my favourite part.”

Jude’s mother Emily is so proud of her daughter and her teammates, especially given the intensity of their devotion to the sport. The team practices together twice a week, but many of the girls regularly put in extra time at the gym.

“I know for my daughter herself, she’s in the gym four times a week, if not more with private lessons,” Emily said. “All the girls are in there training a lot and helping their peers.”

The cheerleaders and their parents were together in the gym when the news hit, and just like Jude, the other girls were jumping up and down, hugging each other, and falling to the floor in their enthusiasm. Emily is excited to bring the whole family, including their eight-month-old baby, down to Florida for the competition and their collective first trip to the states. 

She’s currently on maternity leave and knows the other families have their own financial needs, so she’s grateful for any support that sponsors can provide. It’s “unreal” that the team has this opportunity, she said, so she’s excited to spread the word and help show people what cheer really is.

“We were all super excited for them because I know they’ve worked so hard and just from the beginning of the year, like the first competition until now, they’ve improved so much,” she said. “I know that all of us parents are just so excited to see where they even get to by May because I know it’s going to be amazing when we see them on the floor there.”

For more information on how to support the team and their trip to the world championships, download the Valley Sharks Sponsorship Letter.

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