Angela meets the Queen

In recognition of 15 years of outstanding service to young people, Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders’ (AEC) Angela Brown was invited to a reception given at Buckingham Palace by The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

Angela said, “I was so honoured to receive the invitation, and was excited to be invited to the Palace. Being presented to the Queen was both thrilling and nerve-wracking. I shook her hand, and then answered questions about the Ascension Eagles. The Duke of Edinburgh was particularly enthralled with AEC, and it was truly lovely to speak with them both.”
Following her royal presentation, Angela was escorted to another room in the Palace, where she enjoyed performances from an orchestra, a ballet and other styles of music and dance. Angela said, “I was inspired by the people I met, and truly enjoyed myself. It was a lovely evening I will never forget.”

Angela started her cheer career in 1996 – age 14 -- as a founding member of the Ascension Eagles. Although she was on that very first AEC team that placed last at the BCA/WCA Championships at Butlin’s Bognor Regis, that is not an experience that Angela has repeated.
With AEC, Angela went on to win Championship titles at BCA, UKCA, ScotCheer, FutureCheer and ICC. Angela competed on the UK National team at European Championships in Germany, Slovenia, Finland and France. She also competed at World Championships in Japan (2001) and in the USA (since 2006). Angela has been a driving force behind AEC’s Senior Coed team, who have been undefeated since 1998.
While she was still competing as a champion athlete, Angela developed her coaching and choreography skills. For more than a dozen years, Angela has served as Lead Coach for Ascension Eagles, earning hundreds of trophies for Britain’s best cheer program. But her contributions extend beyond Newham’s Ascension Eagles, as Angela has been hired as a choreographer and instructor by teams across the UK and Europe. In addition to choreographing scores of award-winning competition routines, Angela has also been hired to choreograph large scale professional events, including London New Year’s Day Parade (1999-2007), Lord Mayor’s Show (2005-2010), Twickenham RFU (2002-2008), UEFA SuperCup Monaco (2002-present), and FA Cup Finals, Wembley (2002-present). It is estimated that Angela’s work has been viewed by over 400 million people worldwide.

Angela Brown is well-known within the cheerleading community. She was an original Team Britain member and BCA staffer (1998-2005), and was the first-ever British Cheerleader of the Year in 2001. Angela has served as a Senior Staffer for FutureCheer since 2005. Internationally, Angela has been involved with World Cheerleading Association, CANAM Championships, CheerSport, Champion Spirit Group, CCA, COA and FCC. When cheerleading was developing in Malaysia and Singapore at the turn of the millennium, Angela helped to staff and judge the inaugural events. In fact, Angela was the writer and examiner for the first Singapore coaching programme in 2001. Closer to home, Angela helped with auditions for the first Team Scotland and also with UNIty’s first team.

Angela is Program Manager for London’s first cheer gym – Talent Central – which is based at Gallions Reach Shopping Centre, and offers over 6000 square feet of professional training space, mirrored walls, full spring floor and Air TumbleTrak. Angela also serves as the International Regional Director (IRD) for the International All Star Federation (IASF), which is recognised in more than 80 countries worldwide.
Angela earned her degree (BA Hons, Business Studies with Marketing) at Greenwich University, and has devoted herself to serving her East End community. This summer she will marry Gareth Green, a semi-pro rugby player, who is also a gymnastics and cheerleading coach. Gareth specialises in working with young people with autism, and is working with Talent Central and Ascension Eagles to extend their disability outreach. Together, the young couple plan to invest themselves in building the AEC and Talent Central legacy, particularly in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics, and to the release of the Ascension Eagles film.

Angela said, "It truly was an honour to be invited to meet the Queen, but I count myself lucky daily to be involved in the lives of the young people AEC work with all year round. I am looking forward to ending our 15th season with excellence, and I am incredibly excited to explore all that we can achieve with both Talent Central and Ascension Eagles in the coming year. None of this would be possible without our amazing coaching staff and, of course, the families who we work with weekly. I am grateful to our amazing young people for giving me the drive to push to new heights."