The Amador Valley Cheer Team competed at Nationals at the Anaheim Convention Center, working hard all season to bring it all home and win first place. 

The Varsity competition team worked tirelessly throughout the season to perfect their routine. With injuries and illness hitting them hard all year, the team still managed to beat all the other schools in their division.

“Specifically for this situation we had a girl who sprained her ankle two weeks before we were scheduled to compete at Nationals. We had to get a new flier which made it stressful, but thankfully it was someone who had previously stepped in, [since we’ve seen] multiple injuries such as concussions and broken thumbs,” said cheerleader Olivia Prevost (‘23).

During those two weeks, the athletes had numerous practices to refine their competition routine. The cheer team had to rehearse their full-outs, which is to perform an entire routine, including all skills, transitions, and facials as if they were performing at a competition.

“We had this poster and we decided that we would hit 16 full-outs by the time we got to nationals and we crossed off every single one, so that was a pretty big accomplishment,” said cheerleader Maddie Cowan (‘22).

The team met after school on February 23 to go to the airport to fly to Anaheim. The day following their arrival, they had practice and a team meeting to refresh their minds and prepare them for the days to come. 

“After practice, we all went to Disneyland, and then that night we had another team bonding/meeting just for everyone to be prepared and know what to expect from the next day”, said Prevost.

The next day, the team prepared for the preliminary rounds, competing against 27 teams. Amador Valley was one of two to make the finals. The following day was finals; after hitting their routine and stepping off the mat, the team waited breathlessly for the results to be announced.  After finding out they took first place, the team jumped and cheered with joy,  the weight on their shoulders finally lifted with a sense of accomplishment.

“You’re sitting in a circle, holding everyone’s hand and when they announce the second-place team, every single team that they announce that’s not you is a little feeling of relief,” said Cowan. “When they said the second-place team I literally started balling my eyes out, everyone started screaming, jumping up and down. You go and hug everyone and you have the trophy, it’s really, really emotional and it just reassures [you] that it’s worth it.”