SEVENTEEN girls have become the first cheerleading team from the Edinburgh and East Lothian area to win a place at The Summit championships in Orlando, Florida.
Rain Allstars train in Musselburgh Sports Centre and its junior international team competed at Future Cheer’s Internationals competition in Bournemouth on July 3.
Called Weathergirls, the team competed in the international under-17 level one division, the first time Rain Allstars have attended this competition.
On their first visit, the team placed first out of the six teams in their division with a score of 96.66 out of 100.
But this was not the only victory of the weekend.
Weathergirls were also looking to obtain a bid to go to Varsity All Star’s The Summit competition held in Orlando, typically at the end of April.
Founded in 2013, it is a competition for lower division cheer teams not part of those competing at The Cheerleading Worlds.
The Summit is the equivalent of a world championships to these lower division teams and allows them to showcase their talents.
Teams keen to attend need to win ‘a bid’ beforehand and only a select few are awarded places.
On their return to Scotland and two days after the competition, Weathergirls and their two coaches, Ross Barron and Becca Dixon, found out that they were successful.
This year was the first time that Rain Allstars had ever put one of its teams forward for a place.
They will now be attending the competition next year, held between April 28 and May 1 at ESPN Wide World of Sports.
Ross, who is also owner of Rain Allstars, told Courier Sport: “It has been a dream of mine, my coaches and all of my athletes to be able to attend Future Cheer’s nationals and Varsity’s Summit competitions.
“It is something we have all dreamed about for so long, so to be able to go is amazing. I am so incredibly grateful and thankful to be given the opportunity and to represent cheerleading in Scotland.
“It is also a testament to the hard work of these athletes, who have made every effort to keep up with their training at home and as a team, inside and outside of the gym.
“They have worked extremely hard and I am so proud of them all.
“I am still in shock that one of my teams won nationals and achieved a Summit bid on our very first attempt. Weathergirls are the first team at Rain to go for something like this. I wasn’t sure we would even get it, the talent at Bournemouth was so high.
“Everyone at the club is so excited for them, we were all in shock but equally delighted. Now the hard work really begins!”
Becca added: “What a long journey, 18 months to be exact. I have never met such a hard-working and determined bunch of girls in my life and I feel so lucky to coach them.
“They all got chucked into the deep end. It has been far from easy but all of the hard work has been worth it. They keep pushing themselves to be the best they can be.
“Their parents are also so supportive and do anything that needs to be done to support both the team and club as a whole.”
As well as inside the gym, work is beginning on raising the money needed to be able to attend the competition.
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