GIMME A ‘C,’ GIMME AN ‘H’...
Pursuing a life full of good cheer
When a competition calls, Jaclyn Hill answers, even when it comes at a cost.
A cheerleader for the past 17 years, she has missed her best friend’s wedding, her son’s birthday and other major life events to be there for her team.
She has even competed with a broken ankle.
“It is a huge commitment. I’ve sacrificed more than I can imagine,” said Hill from the Best of the West Cheer and Dance Championships at Evraz Place Saturday afternoon. “I know that my team relies on me more than anything.”
Having been in the world of competitive cheerleading for so long, she said her family has grown to be understanding, especially her mom and sister who help her out a lot.
When she’s sacrificing time with that family, it’s to be there for her other family: her teammates and competitors from around the world.
“I’ve made friends from all around the globe from cheerleading, and even as of this week I’ve messaged (them) with struggles I’m having,” said Hill. “I don’t know anything else in life that would have kept me going and kept me happy as much as this sport has. It’s a huge family.”
Hill is a member of the Saskatoon-based Prairie Fire Cheerleading club. On Saturday, she competed with her intermediate level all-star team, Fever, in an attempt to win a partial paid bid to the World Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Fla., this spring.
Having already qualified to go to worlds in a previous competition, Saturday’s goal was to win a bid that would help pay for the journey.
The competition, no matter how friendly, is fierce.
Dozens of teams from across the West hit the floor Saturday performing stunts and tumbling in an effort to cinch their own bids to worlds.
The competitors were strong and their routines intense, as tops were thrown in the air to complete impressively quick, creative and what seem like inhumanly impossible moves.
Bases improvised with agility during times where balance was lacking, their strength and skill keeping their teammates safe and in the air.
Tumblers fired across the mat completing backflips and spins any Olympic gymnast would be envious of.
The athletes spared no effort, and it was obvious that a lot of training and courage led them to that day’s competition.
“We practice three times a week for two-and-a-half hours and we just finished up with our workouts with a really intense trainer,” said Asia Runge, a member of the Rebels Cheer Athletics gym in Regina. “It’s a lot, but I’m glad that it’s a lot. It keeps me in shape and it’s always fun.”
Runge’s team, Smoke, another intermediate All-star team, also competed Saturday. Like Fever, they won a bid to go to worlds during a competition three weeks ago, but were angling for the partial paid bid.
In Grade 8, Runge has been cheerleading for four years — two of those years for the Rebels.
With mandatory workouts on top of practice time and the expectation to work on things like flexibility and choreography on their own time, the commitment is nothing to scoff at.
“I feel like people take it for granted and think, oh, it’s just saying cheers and jumping up and down, but it’s a whole lot more than that,” said Runge. “I feel like people just need to come to a competition ... or watch some videos on Youtube and then they can really see how cool it is.”
But it’s not just a sport for the athletically elite. Rebels Cheer Athletics has opportunities for all ages and all ability levels.
“What it takes to be on a cheerleading team is you just have to want to do it and get out there and participate,” said head coach and owner of Rebels Cheer Athletics, Eric Bestvater.
“Cheerleading is really unique in the sense that it’s kind of like a for-everyone sport.”
But for the advanced teams, the physical demand is high, said Bestvater.
“What we do with all-star cheerleading is its own sport in its own right,” he said. “It’s highly competitive and the stuff the athletes are doing is insane.”
Despite Best in the West being a competition, the vibe in the room on Saturday was overwhelmingly supportive.
“It’s the only sport I’ve found where you actually are at the front of the floor cheering on your competition as opposed to hoping for them to fail,” said Hill. “It helps a lot.”
Whether they win the partial paid bid or not, both teams are on their way to compete in the world championships at the Walt Disney World Resort in April.
Other Saskatchewan teams that have qualified for the world championships include 306 Elite Cheer and Tumbling’s team Fame from Regina, who won the partial paid bid at Best in the West, as well as Warman Ultimate Cheerleading ’s team Onyx and Boss Athletic’s team Lady Luxe, also from Regina.
When asked what she was looking forward to the most, Runge was quick to reply: “The weather.”