A group of 24 local cheer athletes has a chance to accomplish something no other team in Louisiana has.
The Louisiana Cheer Force Fire Level 4 U-16 squad has a chance to become triple crown winners after qualifying for the UCA International All-Star Cheerleading Championships near Orlando, Florida on March 11-12.
The team has a chance to accomplish the rare feat after winning the Cheersport National competition in Atlanta in mid-February and the NCA Nationals in Dallas, Texas, Feb. 24-26.
“We’ve only had one other team of ours eligible for this and this was back in 2020,” said Louisiana Cheer Force Owner and Coach Rachael Pearson. “It was a level 4 team then as well, just a little bit older though. They were eligible because they won NCA and Cheersport. We were going to a UCA. We were registered and ready to go. We had to cancel the day before because that’s when COVID hit.”
With the championships less than two weeks away, Pearson said the team is coming up with different ways to cover the various costs, which include travel and registration among other things.
“It’s a pretty expensive trip, but everybody is excited to go because it’s almost like once in a lifetime to be able to win all three of them,” she said.
To raise money for the trip, Louisiana Cheer Force Fire started a gofundme page. Another fundraising effort is a crawfish boil raffle. The person who wins the crawfish boil raffle will have a crawfish boil catered.
To purchase a raffle ticket, you visit the Louisiana Cheer Force gym located on Tiger Bend Road. You can also pay through Venmo to @Elise-Cazes or Paypal to @EliseCazes. Include your name and phone number if paying through Venmo or Paypal.
Pearson’s Louisiana Cheer Force gym has 20 teams that compete. Five teams won Cheersport Nationals and five other teams won NCA Nationals.
She said her assistant coach Ryan Barrow and choreographers Spencer Day and Adam Eisler have played key roles in the team’s success this season.
The Cheer Force Fire is a co-ed team with 22 female athletes and two males. The team has athletes from throughout the state but the majority are from the Baton Rouge area. According to Pearson, their ages range from 12 to 16 years old.
“They have to juggle a lot to be able to be a part of this team,” she said. “Several of these kids also cheer for their school team. Not only are they working hard, practicing with us, but they’re also practicing hard with their school teams and maintaining good grades. These kids are very goal-oriented, hard-working kids.”
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