Telford cheerleaders head to Florida for world championships three years after invitation
A Telford cheerleading academy squad is Florida-bound after an invitation three years in the making.
Two teams from Cheerforce Ten will jet off to the USA to take part in the USASF World Championships in Orlando from April 23-25.
The last time they competed in the USA was 2019 when they ranked 14th in the world, but they won the right to return the following year when the Elite Pom dance team was successful in the qualifying competition.
The event was initially postponed until 2021 before being put back to this year due to Covid, so the Ketley-based club will now finally compete in the event three years after receiving the invite.
Two teams comprising 23 dancers will go to the championships, Cheerforce Ten Refuge (lyrical) and Cheerforce Ladies of Ten (pom). They will fly out to the sunshine state next Saturday for training ahead of the competition, held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The lyrical routine was devised to spread awareness of domestic violence, and reveals the telephone number for the charity refuge at the end. The team felt strongly about the subject after seeing a surge of cases during lock down.
Although cheerleading is sometimes seen as a solely American pursuit, more than 40 countries will take part at the event, which has been held since 2004.
Cheerforce Ten - which has been running for over 10 years - teaches athletes from ages three upwards in cheerleading, dance and tumbling.
