McCallion
Quest
Holiday Cheer Competition
Hazel’s Cheerleaders Walk off With the Trophy
Written by: Anisha Dubey and Nimisha Dubey
When you hear the word cheerleading you automatically think of young girls shaking pom poms at a football game. However, in the last few years, cheerleading has become a Nation-wide competitive sport in which both young men and women participate. Each and every routine involves physical talents, hard work, dedication and most of all, it depends on the cooperation and timing of all team members.
At Hazel McCallion Senior Public School, Mrs. Gauthier, Mrs. Elphick, and Mrs. Trask coach a co-ed cheerleading program, a team that is now in its 3rd year. This year’s team has been practicing two to three hours every Friday after school. On December 3rd, the team had the opportunity to participate in the annual Holiday Cheer Competition that took place at Notre Dame Secondary School, in Brampton, Ontario.
The venue was spectacular, as decorations hung from wall to wall. The school had three gyms, two of which were set aside as practice areas for the teams, while the main gym became the venue for the actual competition. Each team had a specific amount of time to practice in the practice gym and around 2:00pm all teams were provided with a lunch break. After lunch, the competition began.
In between performances spectators and cheerleaders were allowed to dance while judges and teams prepared for the next routine. The atmosphere was definitely lively and the day was fun and exciting. Our Hazel Cheerleaders competed in the junior level two division. The Hammerheads, a strong competitor for Hazel began the competition performing to their very best level. After they performed, the Super Stars kept the audience intrigued with their wonderful routine. Finally, it was time for our Hazel Hurricanes to dazzle the audience with their breathtaking performance. It was then up to the judges to determine the winner from these 3 strong teams.
At the end of the day, the MC announced that the Hazel McCallion Hurricanes had won FIRST place. Once the announcement was made and the trophy awarded, the team went crazy with excitement. Screaming with joy, they knew their hard work and long hours of practice had paid off. The day was fun, but realizing that they were champions in their first competition of the year is what made their day even better.