Blackfoot High School’s talented cheerleaders took first place in their division at the JAMZ National Competition.
The way the JAMZ National Cheer Competition works is teams first must work to qualify for the event, after which they get to go to Vegas and go head-to-head with other qualified teams. Teams are divided based on their “level” of stunts and tumbling, with level 3 being the highest. Blackfoot competed with several other schools in the level 3 stunting and level 1 tumbling “division.”
JAMZ is also a multi-day event, which adds to the pressure because a poor performance on either day can make or break a team’s chances of winning. Averie McBride (12) described team morale on both days, saying “…some of us had felt down on ourselves and we were all annoyed because we didn’t hit it how we knew we could (on the first day), but after the second day the energy was amazing, top-notch because we had just hit this routine, so we had a lot of energy…”.
Upon discovering that they won many of the girls described feelings of shock, disbelief, and above all, excitement and joy. Ava Stufflebeam (12), one of the captains of the team, said that they were initially hoping for 2nd place, and when they weren’t announced for that placement, they realized that they either lost or won, so when it was revealed they had won, they were all extremely excited.
Holly Porter (12) also related her personal feelings, saying, “It was really cool to experience other people being so excited for you as well as feeling so accomplished for yourself and all that the work you’ve put into it has finally paid off.”
Several of the cheerleaders expressed how different of an experience JAMZ was from their normal routines and competitions. Alexa Collard (12) said that one of the hardest parts for her was getting used to how differently it was run compared to other competitions, the sheer amount of people that were there watching, and the bright blinding lights.
Brooke Neff (12) echoed Collard’s statement about the lights and also added how foreign the setting was for many of the cheerleaders describing how it was weird to be elevated on a stage as opposed to a gym floor, and the strange lighting made both tumbling and flying, which is stunts where cheerleaders are thrown into the air, more difficult.
Another difficulty that Blackfoot’s cheerleaders overcame was the routine itself. Lexi George (12), the other team captain, said that their JAMZ routine was very similar to their State routine. With only a few minor, but important, changes within the tumbling, switching between the two was initially difficult for many of them, especially since they would often run through both routines back-to-back.
As a whole the girls are very pleased with their performance, and had an excellent time at the event, bonding and making memories. They’d like to thank their coaches, parents, and especially each other, for supporting them and pushing them to greater heights. If you see any of Blackfoot’s cheerleaders, be sure to congratulate them!
