Hard work pays off
Saint Paul cheerleaders follows up sixth-place showing at worlds with two championships
Hurrahs are in order for the cheerleading squad at Saint Paul Catholic High School in Niagara Falls.
After dominating the circuit last year, the Patriots moved up one division, to intermediate non-tumbling division, at the start of the 2016-17 season. Despite the move, Saint Paul went on to enjoy one it best seasons in recent memory.
“The fact that they went up a division, that’s a huge accomplishment,” said teacher Jennifer Benoit, who is in her third season as head coach. “To do that in one year and then win the division the following year, that’s amazing.”
The Patriots placed first in their performance at the Ontario Cheerleading Federation provincial tournament in March. They followed up tby winning their division at the national championships in April.
Earlier this year, Saint Paul placed sixth at a world championships held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
All told, the squad performed so well in the eyes of judges that they were able to add plenty of hardware to the trophy cases at the Niagara Falls high school.
“It looks like they are going to have to have another one built,” Benoit said.
Grade 10 and 11 students dominate a squad that will only see two members graduate in June.
While the squad is always looking for newcomers, being able to put essentially the same team on the floor puts the Patriots in a position to continue their domination in 2018.
“I’m extremely proud, they are so committed for a high school team,” Benoit said. “We were here three or four times a week, sometimes twice a day. We just worked hard and committed.”
All of that hard work returned big divisions. Saint Paul’s victory at nationals gave the Patriots a berth in the world championships for the second straight year.
Benoit attributed the team’s success to the girls’ willingness to dedicate themselves to the sport.
“We kind of created a process,” Benoit said. “We never knew where the process was going to take us, we just knew the steps we needed to take and, hopefully, we would be where we needed to be by the end of the season.”
Benoit will be holding tryouts for next year’s team starting Wednesday, May 24, at the high school. Tryouts are open to all current Saint Paul students and Grade 8 students who will be attending the school beginning in September.