The Chesterton Cheer Team wins their third regional title!

On November 29, the Chesterton High School Cheerleading Team competed at the UCA regional championship at Hamilton Southeastern High School. UCA is the Universal Cheerleaders Association, and they host regional events across the country. At the regional level, teams not only compete for the regional title but also earn a bid at UCA nationals in Orlando, Florida. To qualify for nationals, teams must earn a score of 80 or higher. 

This year, Chesterton’s team competed in the game day division in which the performance consisted of a band dance, sideline cheer, crowd cheer, and fight song. It’s judged based on each team’s ability to get crowd involvement and engagement by using signs, flags, and stunting. 

Unlike previous years, the 2023-2024 CHS team is made up of both Varsity and JV members. The combination of both teams can be advantageous but can also pose challenges as the two teams aren’t always working together at games and everyday practice. It was an ambitious effort to combine the two teams, especially given the fact that JV consists of freshmen who are relatively new to the game day division. However, the regional performance proved that the combination can be a force to be reckoned with. The freshmen members killed it during the performance and didn’t let any nerves get in the way of a great performance. I spoke to a freshman lifter about his experience on the team thus far. 

“It was a great experience. I had a lot of fun working with the team and I’m glad that I’ve been able to come this far with them,” freshman Cole Gilbert said.

The Chesterton Cheer program is also unique in that there are nine lifters on the team! It is incredibly rare to find that many guys on one team which places Chesterton in the Large Coed Division. Chesterton is the largest coed team in the state and is only one of ten teams that competes down at nationals in Orlando.

Chesterton Cheer won first place this year at regionals and successfully earned a bid to nationals. Last season, the team made it to the semifinals but was unable to break into the finals. However, the scoresheet from regionals showed that the team improved by over ten points since nationals. After seeing the potential from regionals, the team is more determined than ever to work hard and strive for a national championship. 

“It was really almost a wake-up call to all of us, seeing how competitively we scored definitely gives us the drive to shoot for top 3 at nationals,” senior Tate Wilcox said.

The team has been working hard on this routine ever since May. Working diligently and tirelessly, the CHS Cheer Team only has eyes on nationals. The road isn’t always easy, but if it were, everyone could do it. So until February comes around, the Chesterton Cheer Competition team will be assiduously working until then.