On an early rainy Sunday morning of October 29, both Norwin Competition and Gameday Cheerleading Squads walked into Olentangy Berlin High School in Ohio ready to qualify for Nationals. It was a crowded gymnasium with 56 other teams wanting to qualify. Both Norwin Competitive and Gameday teams competed on the mat and both qualified for National in Orlando in February. 

The Traditional Competition squad  includes the main skills of jumps, tumbling, stunts, pyramids, and a dance. The teams are divided into multiple divisions, Norwin’s division is large varsity  and are judged on the routine’s difficulty, execution, and presentation. The Gameday squad consists of a band chant, situational cheer, a traditional cheer, and a fight song. The cheer teams are judged based on execution, presentation, and crowd engagement.  Norwin’s division is super varsity.

“My favorite part about qualifying for Nationals was seeing the smiles on their faces,” Coach Kaitlyn Fung said. “When they heard they had earned their bid as I knew they were not only proud of themselves, but they were genuinely happy for their teammates as they know it is a team effort to earn their bid.”

To qualify for the National competition both the Gameday and Traditional Competition had to receive a score of 75 or above. By putting in hard work and dedication both teams were able to do this, Gameday receiving an 85.9 and Competition a 79.0 team scores to qualify them for Nationals.

“The biggest struggle with getting everyone ready, was keeping everyone focused at practice and being able to get as many reps in as possible, with 1 hour and half practices,” Gameday captain  Alex Weiss said.

There are two captains on the Gameday team, Alex Weiss and Mason McGurk. There are also two captains on the Competition team, Carly Ziemianski and Makayla LiVorio. All four captains put in the hard work and dedication of getting the teams ready for Nationals and competition season. 

We are thrilled that the cheerleaders earned their bid to Nationals at the Ohio Regional Competition, and we are eager to continue making improvements to our routine as we strive for our best during Nationals,” Fung said. “We will continue to support one another as a team throughout all of our preparations so we can continue to foster a positive environment for each athlete to grow.”

Coach Fung works alongside Coach Lauren Watson and Coach Aubrey Frye to prepare both teams for the competition season. All three of them put in the effort to come ready to coach the teams for practice and without them the team would not be where they are now.

“We are so proud of our Norwin Cheerleaders!” Fung said. “Each week, these young ladies work on continuously growing to improve as a team. We have a special group of athletes who are resilient and have overcome various challenges throughout the season, yet they continue to remain stronger together.”