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Custom House based Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders had a successful weekend at Future Cheer International. Held July 2-3 2005, on the ocean front in Brighton, the competition attracted teams from England, Wales and Europe. Ascension Eagles entered three cheer teams in this premier event, and placed top in each division:

Ascension Eagles Cheer Extreme 1st place, Youth Cheer Advanced
Ascension Eagles Junior Varsity 1st place, Junior Cheer Advanced
Ascension Eagles Varsity 1st place, Senior Coed Advanced

In addition, Ascension Eagles Varsity were named Grand Champions for achieving the top overall score. They received a massive trophy and squad jackets for the entire team. However, the best result was yet to come. Future Cheer International is authorised by the United States All-Star Federation (USASF) to give bids to the prestigious Cheerleading World Championships. The international panel of judges issued an endorsed bid to Ascension Eagles Varsity Coed to represent England at the Cheerleading Worlds in 2006.

The 2006 Cheerleading Worlds will be held April 22-23 in Orlando at Disney World. This invitation-only competition has become the one place where the truly elite all-star programs from around the world compete head to head.
Ascension Eagles Director Shara Brice said, This is a tremendous honour. We started AEC nine years ago as a church outreach project. We were soon known as the spirit of Londons East End. We then progressed to be Britains best cheer programme. Now we are recognised as one of the best teams in the world. It is more than we ever imagined or dared to dream. We will work hard to represent our East End community and our nation with excellence.

Ascension Eagles Choreographer and Head Coach Angela Brown said, "Most of the other teams competing at the Worlds come from fully equipped cheer gyms, with multiple full-sized sprung floors and tumble tracks. They recruit the very best cheerleaders to compete at this level, and they have quite a bit of money behind their programmes. We work with the local youth, most of who live in the E16 area around our church. Our young people help run our programme, and we build leadership and lifeskills in all that we do. We are unique in that while the individual members of our team may not seem that exceptional, when you put us all together, we can do amazing things"

Team member Robert Brown, 20, of Custom House said, "The Cheerleading Worlds will be televised on ESPN, and this will mean that thousands of people hear about who we are and where we come from. We are going to put all that we have into making the most of this opportunity to gain recognition for our team, our community and our country".

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