HMC Cheerleading Squad Tastes its First Competition at Provincial Championships

Cheerleading competitions are a major sport in the United States, but based on the performances of the Ontario school teams participating in the Ontario Provincial championships, the activity seems to be catching on quickly here in Canada.

Last month, on April 24, 2004 the Ontario Cheerleading Championship were held at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga.  For all members of the first year HMC Cheerleading Squad, their preparation for this event started way back in November when 3 teachers decided that this activity may be a nice addition to the already active extra curricular activities at Hazel.  

After months of scrounging gym times for practice, conducting fundraising activities and working on putting a routine together, the team met on the morning of competition at the school before departing to the Hershey Centre to participate in their first ever Provincial Championships.

The Championships were made up of 5 groups: Junior, Novice All Girl, Small Co-Ed, Large Co-Ed, Small All Girl, Medium All Girl, Large All Girl. 

Hazel McCallion, in the Junior group, competed actively against other teams across Ontario.  The Junior division consisted of: Mother Teresa, Nepean; Rolling Meadows, Burlington; Heritage Glen, Oakville; St. Joseph, Nepean; Sacred Heart, Stittsville; Reesor park, Markham; St. Edith Stein, Mississauga; Lawfield MS, Hamilton; Notre Dame, Ottawa and our very own Hazel McCallion. 

During the competition, each team runs through their routine twice.  HMC did well in their first round, but found that since they had included an illegal basket toss in their routine, they lost 80 points.  Basket tosses are only to be performed by High School teams for reasons of safety.  Between their first performance and their second performance the team worked hard to eliminate that section of their performance and replace it with a new routine. 

The second performance was spectacular.  The team executed a well practised routine, and all members came away with enormous smiles. Unfortunately, the improved performance of the squad was not enough to place them in the top 5, something that would have enabled them to move on to the final on Sunday.   

However, for the first year of competing, we can only look forward to improved results next year.  The coaches, Ms. Gauthier, Ms. Roper and Ms. Weir and the members of the squad should be proud of their accomplishment and their overall professional performance.