Local ‘Cheer’ team places among top-20 at International Competition

May 4, 2019 | 11:48 PM

ORLANDO, FLORIDA — This is not your ‘short skirts and pom-poms’ type of cheerleading. These young athletes focus on the skill of a hybrid sport. The Lethbridge Cheer Association is home to Extreme Cheer Sensation (ECS), where young people – girls and boys – train in gymnastics, acrobatics, and athletic stunts. The end result is strength, flexibility, coordination and stamina.

All that training paid off this past week, as ECS produced the first team from Lethbridge to qualify for an international competition.

ECS ‘Team Fever’ participated in a Calgary competition in February and was one of four teams to win a bid to compete at The Summit 2019 International Cheer Competition in Orlando, Florida from May 2 to 5. The local team is comprised of four coaches and 18 athletes between the ages of nine and seventeen.

There were two divisions at The Summit, representing 64 teams from all over the world.

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On Thursday, Team “Fever” competed among 31 teams, in the International Junior 2 division. Only the top 10 teams in the division moved on. The home team placed sixth in their division and had a “Hit Zero” routine, which means they had no deductions.

Photo courtesy of Extreme Cheer Sensation

The team then moved on to Friday’s finals, to compete against teams from the USA, Japan, England, and Canada. Team Fever made it into the top 20 out of the 64-teams in their division. Japan took top honours.

Alyssa Weitz, Kamaron Hampton, Head Coach/owner Tami Workman, Kim Edmonds

Head Coach and ECS owner, Tami Workman, said the team felt great about their performance.

“At awards, they were awarded 18th place in the world for the International Junior Level 2 division. They feel proud of the year and the accomplishment of making it so far in a tough division.”

Extreme Cheer Sensation trains in a 6000 square foot facility at 227 31^st Street North Lethbridge.

by Dori Modney