Ascension Eagles win Winter Wonderland

Champions in the making:  40% of team compete for their first time!

Three bus loads of Newham’s Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders (AEC) and their fans traveled to Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre in Middlesex for FutureCheer’s Regional Winter Wonderland Championships on 2nd December 2007. 

Forty per cent of the Ascension Eagles were competing for their first time.  This meant that the Ascension Eagles coaches – all Senior members who have grown up with AEC and gained their coaching qualifications – had a tremendous amount of work to do as they prepared their Pee Wee, Youth and Junior teams to compete.

Coach Mel Brown, aged 19 explained, “Each September we take new members.  They are integrated into the teams, and then we train together for eleven weeks between tryouts and Regionals.  Their new skills are put to the test by competing at Regional Championships, alongside 95 other teams.”

Fellow coach, Petra Johnson, aged 19 added, “There were times in recent weeks when we wondered if we were going to be able to pull it off and prepare these novice cheerleaders to compete with the Ascension standard.  But you never know how much you can really achieve until you push yourself beyond your previous limits.  We are so proud of all our teams for working together and proving how powerful and capable they are.  They can achieve anything if they work with all their hearts and abilities.” 

Louise Hayward, aged 12 said, “What I enjoyed about this competition is that we had so many new people.  I was new just last year.  As a team, we gave people confidence to perform and compete.  It was really great.” 

Karis Daniel, aged 10, agreed, “It a great experience for the new people to perform to everyone and see how it feels.  I think it was amazing.  I am so glad I am Ascension Eagle.”

When the results were announced, Ascension Eagles captured first in each of their divisions, winning three trophies for the three routines they entered. 

New parent Mary Richards said, “Watching the AEC performances, I could see their great team spirit shine through.  As parents, we’ve seen them at practices, when it just wasn’t coming together.  They had to work very hard.  This hard work has paid off.  Well done AEC!”
New parent George Lee agreed, “I liked the way everyone supported one another, while also cheering for their opponents.  It really seemed genuine, which I found refreshing.  There is something unique about the AEC family.”

Eight-year-old Corraine Lewis-Laing said, “Today was the most exciting day for me.  I was so proud to wear the new Ascension Eagles uniform.  We all looked really good.  Before we performed our routine, I had butterflies in my stomach, but once we got on the floor, they all disappeared.  All the practices helped us do a good job for the judges and the crowds.”

Nine-year-old Ayana Moore said, “I thought today was brilliant because everyone had to put in 100 per cent effort for all three of our teams to place first in their categories.  We are one big family.  We each did what we had to do, and it paid off.” 

Twelve-year-old Alex Williams added, “I really enjoyed Winter Wonderland because we performed really well and our coaches said it’s not all about winning, it’s mainly about enjoying yourself.  So I really thought it was amazing that we had so much fun and we won.  I am really grateful to everyone who made it possible for us to go and compete.”

“This was my daughter’s first performance with Ascension Eagles and watching all that practice and hard work unfold on that competition floor and seeing it pay off in the smile on her face was worth every effort and sacrifice,” said parent Uma Nurse. 

Parent Joyce Peter said, “Their performance was neat, clean and excellent.  Winning first place all round is well deserved.  Our children are truly champions forever.” 

Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders (AEC) began in 1996, as an outreach of Ascension Church designed to keep youth off the streets and out of trouble, using championship level cheerleading to build leadership, teamwork, citizenship and community integration.   Today AEC stand out as a shining example of excellence and potential in London’s 2012 Olympic borough of Newham. 
Founder and director Shara Brice said, “AEC are a group of ordinary young people from a tough area, working together to do extraordinary things.  When we look at our members and the opportunities that surround us, we see tremendous potential.  We know that the best is yet to come.”