The lights are on, the stage is set, the crowd is roaring, but there is silence backstage as each team gets ready for the most important moment of their life. The next three minutes of their lives are ones they’ve been preparing for all year and will remember for the rest of their lives.
To those in the cheer and dance world, UCA Nationals is the most important moment of their athletics career. But does anyone know what UCA Nationals is?
This prestigious cheer competition is held in Buena Vista, Florida at the ESPN Worldwide Sports Center every year and is without a doubt is the main event of every cheerleader’s season, hosting teams from all over the nation and around the world. Every team works their whole season to earn a place at the biggest event of the year and pushes themselves the hardest as soon as they get to Florida.
Washington high school teams have been going to Nationals for over the past decade. They have won multiple titles, such as Eastside Catholic who became world champions in the 2019 season, along with three-time national champions Auburn Mountainview and many more.
Over the past decade, EC, Auburn Mountainview, Mount Si, Decatur, Hanford, Skyline, Tahoma, and Kentwood have consistently been in the mix to earn a place at and compete at Nationals. This year, however, UCA saw a lot more Washington teams than they have in the past couple of years.
This year, the group consisted of EC, Auburn Mountainview, Mount SI, Eastlake, Decatur, Hanford, Skyline, River Ridge, Issaquah, Steilacoom, Emerald Ridge, and Tahoma. The Washington teams did well, as EC took home 2nd in the world, Auburn Mountainview won their 3rd National title, River Ridge was 5th in the nation, Tahoma was 10th, and Skyline was 8th.
They did all of that going up against powerhouse teams from the South and Midwest, where cheerleading isn’t just a sport to some, but their entire identity. Some even take it as far as to have one class period a day dedicated to cheer practice. Teams in Washington don’t have that luxury.
While cheer isn’t being as well-known in the Pacific Northwest as in other areas of the USA, the teams going to Nationals work even harder to get farther in the competition. Everyone competes at Regionals at the beginning of the season to even qualify for the competition and then works for four months to improve and get better, so they have the best chance at winning on the big stage.
The teams go down to Florida a day or two before they compete and spend those days practicing for their own version of quarterfinals or semi-finals. The best thing that can happen is they move on and make it to compete again at finals. If they compete again, they won’t know until the announcer calls their name and makes them the happiest team in the world. Skyline Senior Shannon Ryan says, “We practiced over 30 times before and during Florida with one full day of practice before we left.”
With each team competing as many as 6 times in the span of three or four days, every athlete is exhausted and feeling every bit of pain. Not only physically but mentally pushing themselves to the limit every time they practice. Not only are these practices painful and exhausting, but they are also a show, proving to your competitors who you are.
Every team has coordinating outfits and matching hair and must look “as one” to prove to everyone else on that practice field that they didn’t come to joke around. Especially for Washington teams, showing the powerhouse schools who they are makes all the difference.
Every single thing each athlete is going through has to be pushed to the side and not dealt with until after they are done competing. Nothing else matters except for your team and what you put on the floor.
Ryan talks about how his team faced a huge difficulty leading into state and then nationals. “We struggled to go from state to nationals because of a major coaching change, but we adapted well because of receiving a new coach.”
All teams have in Florida is each other, so they have to rely on their coaches and teammates to help them get through the weekend. Their cheer team is their family but even more so when they are constantly with each other and staying in the same rooms. Their team is their support system. Ryan elaborates, “Being there as a team helped, and it was amazing to have the community and family.”
But this isn’t the only national competition that teams can go to. UCA is the official national competition for high school cheer teams since it is associated with the National High School Cheer Competition or the NHSCC. There is also the USA Nationals, which take place in Anaheim, California a week after the UCA competition.
Many Washington teams opted for this competition instead of UCA based on the different styles of competition and the score sheet difference. Ryan speaks about what he thinks about the other national competitions besides UCA, saying that “UCA is an arguably easier competition with less strong competition, easier judging, easier style, and greater opportunity to succeed.”
UCA is arguably the more difficult and straining competition, testing every single athlete mentally and physically.
Pushing every athlete to their limit, Florida is the biggest test for a cheer team and each individual athlete. Even with the other competitions, UCA nationals stands out above all. Every team yearning for a coveted white jacket and the blinged out ring that shows how hard they’ve pushed themselves all season. No feeling is better then hearing your name called on that stage.
It’s the dream of every cheerleader to be able show who they are on the big stage, under the lights and all.
