Jade Marks, who calls Sundre home, joined the Premier Academy Cheerleading and Tumbling program in Red Deer last summer. Her senior level six squad, called the Ivy League, is comprised of more than a dozen athletes aged 12-18.
“It’s the team’s first year together,” said mom Brenda, adding they won a gold medal during the Alberta Cheerleading Association’s Cold Snap Classic hosted Jan. 24-26 at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
However, the gold medal alone was not enough to secure a spot at the world event, Brenda said, adding the team also needed an at-large bid to be invited, which they received.
“It’s pretty fantastic, especially since they’re a first-year team,” she said last week during a phone interview when asked her thoughts on the squad’s success.
“It’s very exciting.”
Brenda said they’re planning to make a trip out of the competition, which will be hosted at Disney World.
Jade, a Grade 10 student at Ecole Olds High School, said the sport is still fairly new to her, and that the Cold Snap Classic was her first major competition in cheerleading.
The Ivy League performed two routines, one on Saturday followed by another on Sunday, and she said everything went really well.
The 15-year-old former gymnast said she sought a new direction in a sport that involved more of a dance aspect.
“I do miss gymnastics, but I enjoy cheerleading.”
Aside from a bit of tumbling and flips, she said cheerleading, which requires a coordinated group effort, and gymnastics, which is essentially a solo discipline, are not particularly similar.
“I enjoy working with the team,” she said.
“It’s fun. I really like spending time with the girls, it’s kind of like a family — we do everything together.”
Qualifying for the Cheerleading World Championships in Orlanda, Fla. later this April “felt pretty good. It felt like something I didn’t know I was waiting for, but was.”
After sustaining a couple of years ago a fractured foot, Jade said she has since recovered well, and looks forward to making the trip to Florida.
Leading up to that competition will be a training regimen of at least three weekly practices in Red Deer — “more if we can” — that her parents will be taking her to.
“They’re the reason I’m able to do it,” she said, grateful for the support.
