Soddy-Daisy High School’s 19-member competition football squad is displaying its new national championship winning trophy and banner back home after the recent competition in Las Vegas. The squad also won the National Championship in 2008 in Dallas.
Football squad cheerleading coach Vicki Jackson said the group won first place in the medium division and first place overall in all divisions, defeating 11 schools from the Midwest and West Coast. Soddy-Daisy’s squad was the only squad from the East Coast participating.
“Not only did they win a trophy and banner, but they won a monetary award that we will donate,” said Jackson. “We are donating the money [$500 to $1,000, depending on the amount awarded] to a family of another squad that lost a parent while driving to a cheerleading competition.”
This is not the first time the squad has done something charitable.
“We took a break from competing to do community service work in 2009,” said Jackson. “We volunteered at Make-a-Wish Foundation, the Ronald McDonald House, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and developed the little sisters program at Daisy Elementary School.”
When the cheerleaders responded to how it felt to compete in Las Vegas, senior captain Taylor Marshall said “it was different” and senior captain Halee Guinn said “it was like a culture shock.”
Senior Courtni Jackson said it was more difficult to compete in Las Vegas due to the extensive travel time.
“We opened the routine with tumbling, then we do a stunt, then running, tumbling,” said Courtni. “We did standing tucks, left hurdlers and double toe touches. Then [we did] cheers and jumps, a pyramid and dance. The pyramid was the hardest part.”
Senior Fallon Johnson said the tumbling was the squad’s highest score and the stunts turned out well too. The national championship is the highest level of competition in high school cheerleading, she said.
“We’ve been taking gymnastics since kindergarten to prepare for this,” said Courtni. “We practice Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays and before competitions on Friday and Saturday too. We work really hard.”
In February, the squad will enter Atlanta’s CheerSport cheerleading competition for the first time, according to her.