ASCENSION EAGLES SHINE ON WORLD STAGE

Ascension Eagles – England’s endorsed team for the prestigious 2007 Cheerleading World Championships – have returned home safely to their Olympic borough of Newham after their two-week tour.

For the Ascension Eagles, months of fundraising and training paid off as the trip began with the 26 member all-girl team (aged 14-18) competing at Champion Spirit’s US Challenge and winning seven trophies, including Grand Champions of the competition. 

Building on their early competition success, team members spent each day training in a purpose-built USA cheer gym, participating in team bonding activities and keeping up with their studies.

Ascension’s Lifeskills & Leadership Coordinator, Anna France said, “Each morning after breakfast the team would be studying by 8.30am.  They would gather in the study room or by the pool and revise.  I was so impressed with their discipline and commitment.   If some of them had less studying to do, they would help the others.  It was inspiring to see the team working together to achieve their academic goals, as well as their competition goals.”

The weekend of the Worlds competition, all the competitors were required to move to Disney’s All Star resort, Orlando, to create an Olympic-style village of athletes. 
The invitation-only Cheerleading Worlds was launched in 2004 and consisted of top USA teams competing for World titles.  In a relatively short span of time the Worlds has grown into an international phenomenon, and now draws top talent from the four corners of the globe. 

At the 2007 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds, 70 international teams and 200 USA teams competed for World titles.
Ascension were impressed by the global talent as they attended the official warm-up on April 20th and saw performance previews from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Germany, Canada, Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile and Columbia. 

This was followed by pre-lims at Disney’s Wide World of Sports on April 21st.  For the first time, the 12 hours of pre-liminary competition was broadcast worldwide by webcam. Finals the following day were not broadcast due to contractual arrangements with ESPN, who will televise the Worlds highlights in June 2007.
“Competition started at 8am each morning and ran through until 10pm each night.  We were in the final division of each day, so when it was our turn to compete, it was 3am UK time.  We knew people had stayed up late to watch us at home so we wanted to do our best,” said team member Rachel Ward, 16, Custom House.
Twelve teams advanced to Finals in the International All Girl division, and Ascension were one of five teams with a guaranteed place in the Finals as a result of their FutureCheer bid and qualification process.

“On the day of Worlds Finals, we were really apprehensive,” said team member Florence Scott, 18, Custom House.  “We had a team lunch together, and afterwards we each reflected on what this team means to us.  It was really moving to see how much people had sacrificed to come this far, and it was clear that there was no other team we’d rather be part of – Ascension Eagles is a strong family and we are so proud to be part of that legacy.  We were committed to give it our absolute best out of respect to all of those who helped us to come this far, and to all who have come before us and will follow in years to come.”

Petra Johnson, 18, Custom House. said, “Ascension were the very last team to compete at 2007 Worlds.  The arena was packed, as everyone was waiting to hear the results.  On the front row were the awe-inspiring Top Gun, who were later named World Champions.  They know how much we admire their skill, and they were there to big us up.  It was a huge motivator to know they were cheering us on!”
After delivering an energetic performance and receiving a positive response from the crowd, the Ascension team had to wait for the verdict.  The top ten teams in the division were called to the centre of the arena.  Each team knelt and waited in their respective spot. 
Ascension Eagles were proud to be included in the top ten.  Last year they were ranked 12th in the World; this year they placed 7th.  As the scores were revealed, the Eagles discovered they were less than three points away from 3rd place!

FutureCheer president Andrea Kulberg said, “The competition at Worlds this year was extremely strong.  It really took on a whole new level of talent and skill, yet the Ascension Eagles continued to represent the UK with incredible power as they soared to new heights in 2007!  Not only did they improve on their ranking from their 2006 appearance at the Cheerleading Worlds, their 7th place finish this year was a mere 2.79 points behind the 3rd place team!  That difference was less than 1 point per judge, a tiny fraction in this competition, and a sure sign that Ascension is poised with the most elite cheer athletes in the World.  There are many millions of young people around the globe who can only dream of accomplishing what the Ascension Eagles have done—a true testament to their leadership, work ethic, and determination to stand proud on the World’s stage as they represent the UK.” 

 Founder and President of the Cheerleading Worlds, Jim Chadwick agrees, "The winds of change are blowing across the world of competitive cheerleading and the Ascension Eagles are at the forefront. This team has risen from humble beginnings to become one of the leading all star cheer programs in the world based on the leadership of Shara Brice, Angela Brown, and their athletes and parents. Placing seventh in the World in the International Open All Girl Division is a tremendous accomplishment, considering only the top 1% of teams were invited to compete, and this placing is a dramatic improvement over their 12 th place finish in 2006. Importantly, the level of international competition has increased dramatically since 2006 so the placing improvement is especially meaningful. Congratulations to the Ascension Eagles for representing the UK in such a spectacular manner at the 2007 Cheerleading Worlds -- as much for their performance skills as the way they were admirably positive role models for all of the other competitors."

AEC Director Shara Brice said, “We are taking home eight trophies from this two week tour, but even more importantly, we are taking home a transformed team that gave their best and will now invest all they learned in the sport of UK cheer, and also in their personal lives.  The leadership and lifeskills gained are ultimately even more important than our World ranking.”
Ascension rookie Oishen Lastrollo, 15, Forest Gate, said, “I have learnt so much from this trip, not just about cheerleading but the passion and work behind it, the story behind the faces, how tough it really is and how much people would give up for their one passion.  Before for me cheerleading was just another way of spending time with friends, but I didn’t realize how much it meant to me. I learned how to perform better just looking at these ordinary people with amazing talents.  I admire them all for coming through and being an inspiration to so many worldwide.  It was a once in a lifetime experience.  I have never before felt that I belonged to a group of people doing a sport together and feeling that I do contribute something valuable to the team.”

Team member Lorretta Husbands, Beckton agrees, “Being with the team has made me realize that with all the sacrifices and good and bad things that have happened to me in my life, it is all so worth it because I truly believe that AEC is where we all belong and somehow when we are united as a team, I just know that nothing and no-one will ever be able to break us down, and everything is somehow ok.  Our ranking at Worlds is important, but it doesn’t matter as much as retaining the love, respect and belief of all the people we look up to.  At Ascension we keep our priorities in perspective as we continually work to push to the next level.”
Ascension Eagles Head Coach and Choreographer Angela Brown said, “We worked hard to come this far, and we are not finished yet.  This year’s team was top-notch and really put their hearts into everything they did.  I am so proud to be their coach and I know we will each take everything we’ve learned and invest it into becoming even stronger.  You cannot witness talent and skill on the World stage and walk away unchanged.  We have FutureCheer Nationals in July and all 100 members of our program are preparing to compete.  With Ascension, the best is always yet to come!”