Last Sunday, the University of Sheffield’s cheerleading teams took to the stage in the Octagon Centre for their showcase.
It was immediately clear that both Sabrecats Pom and Stunt Cheer teams had worked incredibly hard in practising their routines.
Despite a few hiccups here and there, the teams wowed spectators with their performances.
First up was Pom’s cheer dance.
With the pandemic resulting in the cancellation of Varsity in 2020 and 2021, the Cheer Dance squad finally had the opportunity to make their comeback.
The general synchronicity amongst the girls in this routine was really good, and they entertained the crowd from start to finish.
The beginning showed similarities to their performance at Varsity in 2019, but this was a nice throwback to pre-Covid times.
It’s exciting to see what the girls perform in this year’s Varsity.
Next up was Sapphire, Stunt Cheer’s non-competitive performance team.
It has been two years since this squad last performed at a showcase. With mainly new members who are new to cheerleading, they put on a good show.
There were a few stumbles here and there, and a few of the pyramids could do with a bit more practice, but all in all, I was impressed with the girl’s hard work.
The next team up performing was Pom’s varsity team.
Sheffield Hallam has some real competition on their hands in the form of Pom’s varsity team.
The team put together one routine, which I don’t doubt will impress judges at the competition this year.
After a two-year break, Forge Press will be covering Varsity in the next few months, so look out for Pom cheer in our coverage.
The fourth team to take to the stage was Silver.
Silver is an all-girls, level one stunt cheer squad, and they were my personal favourite of the night.
Considering that most of these girls have never cheered before, they should be proud of what they’ve achieved so far.
To stand in good stead at competitions, they will need to change their dance to score high, as there didn’t appear to be enough levels and layers in it. But considering the coaches were working with two sets of freshers this year, I think they did well.
The final group to perform before the interval was Pom’s Comp team.
The team coaches, Heidi Loyd-Williams and Caitlin Barker mentioned the squad’s struggle with injuries, including some from the same day as the event.
With their first competition coming up, the team need to put as much effort as possible into training.
The overall performance was good, but there was room for improvement.
If the girls can focus on the task ahead and take each practice as it comes, I do not doubt that they will do well, and I wish them all the best.
After the interval, we saw a surprise routine that both Pom and Stunt put together to celebrate the friendly relationship between the two squads.
It was a great tribute to the hard work that their coaches and the committees have put into mentoring and guiding them.
After this, both cheer teams took the opportunity to show off their team members’ abilities in a tumbling performance, in which all team members were given a chance to show off their best tumbles.
Next, the cheer dance team took to the stage to perform again, followed by Stunt Cheer’s Gold team.
Gold is a Co-ed, level two team and the increase in ability levels was very noticeable.
Once again, pyramids do need a lot of work and I felt the routine just needed more practice, but in comparison to those at the lower levels, the girl’s higher experience level was noticeable.
Next, the Varsity team performed for a second time.
This time the girls had gotten used to the crowd, and their routine seemed a lot more solidified than their first performance.
This was the last team that was the most impressive and, it is safe to say that the girls saved the best until last.
The black squad is the Stunt Cheer’s all-girl level 3 competition team.
The team became National Champions at BCA University Nationals in Derby in 2019, and so the girls will be hoping to win the title again this year.
There were a couple of stumbles in this routine, fairly noticeable to the crowd.
The girls need to work extra hard in the next coming weeks if they want a chance of gaining some silverware.
On the whole, the showcase was a great evening of entertainment, particularly for those who have never seen cheerleading and don’t know what it entails.
With a crowd full of friends and family who were extremely supportive of both Pom and Stunt cheer during their performance, it was a great introduction to the sport for many.
I, for one, will be making an effort to keep in the cheerleading ‘loop’ from now on.
