Persistence Pays Off: Ascension Eagles are going to Worlds

It’s official:  Ascension Eagles are representing England at the Cheerleading World Championships this month.  More than 70 international teams and over 200 American teams will be competing at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, April 21st-22nd, in Orlando.

While this is an invitation that is hard to refuse, for a long while, Ascension Eagles did not think they would be able to attend.  Ascension’s Head Coach Angela Brown said, “There are millions of cheerleaders world-wide, but only a few thousand make it to this level.  We got our bid to 2007 Worlds last summer, but it’s only recently that we have been able to say, ‘Yes Ascension Eagles will accept this invitation.’”

Last July, at FutureCheer National Championships in Brighton, Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders (AEC), from London’s 2012 borough of Newham, won a bid to represent England at the 2007 Cheerleading World Championships.  After much consideration, AEC members sadly decided they would have to decline the bid, due to lack of funds.

Ascension Eagles, established in 1996 as an outreach of Ascension Church Centre, Custom House, consistently rank among the best of Britain’s 11,000 cheerleaders.  They were England’s first-ever team to compete at the 2006 Cheerleading World Championships, where they were ranked 12th in the World.  However, participating in 2006 meant that members and families were financially depleted.

When Newham mayor Sir Robin Wales heard that Ascension were not going to be able to accept the bid for 2007 Worlds, he wanted to help find a way to get them there. He said, “The Ascension Eagles are some of Newham’s finest ambassadors. We’re doing everything we can to help them reach the World Championships. The achievements of the young people deserve to be recognised and England deserves to be represented by the best cheerleaders in the country.” 

FutureCheer offered £3500 sponsorship when the initial bid was given. Despite persistent efforts, from September-December, the Eagles managed to raise very little funding. London City Airport and The Royals Business Park each donated £1000 to encourage other corporates to show their support.  A turning point came just before Christmas, when an anonymous donor promised support if more funders would come forward.  By January, Development Securities and SRB Access to Excellence had pledged support.  The Jack Petchey Foundation agreed to match-fund what team members could raise themselves.  Event360 pledged support, and Virgin airlines agreed to discount flights for the England team by ten per cent.  When the Eagles were still short of their goal, Newham awarded them a Go For It grant, and NewCeys helped them to achieve a Youth Opportunities grant.  These final donations tipped the scales, and meant the Eagles had raised enough money to go to Worlds. 

 “We are so grateful we get to go,” said 17-year-old Tovonya Raybe.  “We have worked hard and will do our absolute best to represent Newham and England with excellence.”

Teammate Mel Brown, 18, agreed, “We are really honoured that so many people believe in us and have helped to make this trip possible.  We will not waste the opportunity before us.  We are determined to do our best.”

IMPORTANT INFO:

• More than 70 international teams are traveling to the 2007 Cheerleading Worlds from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Peoples Republic of China, Canada, Guatemala, Venezuela, Costa Rice, Mexico, Ecuador, Columbia, Chile, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Scotland and England.  The USA will be represented by their top 200 cheer teams.

• Ascension Eagles will be away from April 13th-26th.  They will attend a warm-up competition the first weekend, and compete at the World Championships April 21st-22nd. A fully qualified teacher will be accompanying the team, to oversee daily study sessions, and the team will also be training daily at an Orlando cheer gym. 

• Ascension Eagles are the featured international team in the current issue of All Star Cheer, a quarterly magazine read by millions of cheerleaders worldwide. 

• Ascension Eagles have 100 members, aged 7-21.  Annual auditions for Newham residents are held on the 2nd Saturday of every September. 

• Ascension Eagles also run a monthly outreach called London Cheerleading Academy (LCA), where they instruct individuals and squads from basic to elite level cheerleading.  Squads can hire LCA coaches to do workshops in their schools and communities.  Over the past year, LCA coaches have worked with 2000 aspiring cheerleaders.  LCA coaches are fully qualified, CRB-checked and are also all National Champions.