Spirit Nationals has come and gone but the memories will last forever. For Xtreme Cheer Ct, from Norwalk, Connecticut it was a day they will never forget! Worlds bids were awarded to the teams that performed the very best combination of excellent technique, highly executed difficulty and unique choreography. Other teams will hope to do better next time. Several of the XCA athletes are independent students who have jobs, and pay their own bills and for them cheerleading can become very costly. These are just a few of the expenses that team members take on:

• Cheer Uniforms $600
• Travel $1000+
• Competition Fees $1000
• Monthly Tuition $200
• Weekly Privates $60
• The feeling of winning a fully paid worlds bid:  PRICELESS!

Xtreme Cheer Ct Inferno, was the winner of one of the first fully paid bids of the season at Cheer Tech’s Spirit Nationals in Wildwood, New Jersey.  We caught up with their owner, Mike Talbot to see how he and his coaching partner/wife, Dana were feeling after the big win.

Tell us about your gym:

Photo: Mike Talbot

My wife, Dana, and I have owned and operated Xtreme Cheer since 2003. I have over 25 years of cheerleading and tumbling experience. In addition to my participation in cheerleading through high school, and college, where I was a cheerleader for the UConn Huskies, I have worked for various organizations associated with cheerleading from regional to national levels including judging and choreography. I was a member of the UCA staff for seven years. I am also a member of the International Open Coed Worlds level 5 team Inferno. I am USASF certified in tumbling and stunts up to level 5.

My wife, Coach Dana Talbot, has 25 years of gymnastics and dance experience. As a former gymnast at Southern CT State University, Dana competed at a National Level. Dana was also the former head coach for the Southington YMCA program up to level 9 for over three years and Assistant Coach to the High School Team. Dana joined Xtreme Cheer in 2003 where she has assisted in tumbling, dance and choreography. She also manages all operations behind Xtreme Cheer. Dana is USASF certified in tumbling up to level 5.


How many times has your gym competed at Worlds and how did your team do in the past?

We started our first level 5 team in 2012 and qualified for Worlds in our first season and every year since with At Large Bids. This is our first paid bid! We finished 26th in 2012, 18th in 2013, 23rd in 2014, 21st in 2015 (Top half with an average of 40-45 teams qualifying in that division per year).


What do you think set your team apart from the others at Spirit Nationals that earned them the Full Paid Bid?

We believe it was the commitment and dedication of the athletes that made it possible this year. We started back in June and the team continued to attend regular practice hours. Coupled with great choreography from Blake Johnson, and coach Dana Talbot pushing us to our limits, this helped prepared us to be ready this early in our season.


Will you adjust your competition schedule now that you've already gotten the bid or will you move forward as originally planned?

Yes we plan to just remove one long distance event now due to expense. We feel strongly that we should continue to get as much mat time as necessary prior to NCA Nationals and Worlds. This will be our first year attending NCA nationals.


Tell us about this particular team...what are their strengths and struggles?

This team has so much talent. Strong tumblers, strong coed stunters as well as experienced level 5 athletes. Our struggles are like most IOC 5 teams, financial constraints, time management with many of our athletes working full time jobs or taking college classes, long distance athletes that drive 1-2 hours each way. Injuries as our bodies become older and our skill level goes up.


What were you most proud of, regarding this team and their performances, this past weekend?

I am so proud of the team for coming together because we had to modify our routine for this past weekend several times.  We had 2 great tumblers seriously injured Isaiah Graham and Shawn Shannon.  We also had 2 athletes, Carter Stroh and point flyer Kelsey Rhodes not able to compete in this Dec 2015 competition because they are not age eligible until Jan 2016 due to the age grid. We had to water down this routine slightly. The proudest moment was watching the performances and the energy they brought to the mat. It was not flawless but the passion and positive energy behind it was!  The best moment was hearing them announce us as the winner of the IOC5 division and one of the 2 paid bid winners. I was especially proud of the alternates that helped us achieve this goal. Victoria Leon, Ana Navarro and Christian Burgos, all fantastic and talented athletes that due to the crossover policies cannot compete for us at Worlds, but showed the same excitement and honest joy for their teammates. We could not have done it with out them.


How would people describe the head coach of this team?

This team is coached by my wife and co owner Dana Talbot. The passion that she brings to coaching this team is incredible. As anyone that has an IOC5 team in their gym would understand, it is not the easiest group to coach. With many IOC5 athletes being coaches themselves and with the age difference including everyones crazy schedule, it is no easy task to keep a normal practice schedule. Her dedication and passion for her athletes shows and is a driving force of our team. If it was not for her continuing to push us to our limits, this past weekend's results would not have been possible. 


What's it like to be ON a team and COACH the team - how do you handle both roles effectively?

I am lucky to be able to still go out onto a mat and compete in a sport that I have so much passion for. To be able to be a part of this team with such amazingly talented and dedicated athletes is a true honor that I do not take for granted. It is a little strange being a gym owner and the head coach for all teams in our gym but sit back and let my wife do the coaching for this team. I do my best not to try to take charge, but some times it's tough. I'm working on it.


Describe how you were feeling after Saturday's performance as you were heading into the next day?  What was your game plan for Sunday to secure the Full Paid Bid?

We felt pretty good about our routine but still had a few mistakes that we knew we needed to clean up. Our biggest hurdle was one of our best athletes Isaiah Graham, has a back injury that made things challenging on Sunday and we had to make adjustments in the routine. There was "no way”, in his words, that he was not competing. We knew that we had to hit our routine and keep it clean.

Photo: Mike Talbot

Any advice for coaches and teams who haven't gotten their bid yet?

The best advice I could give is to know your athletes. A clean routine wins 99% of the time.

To check out Extreme Cheer Ct Inferno’s winning routine find it in our event archives. 
Scroll to 1:28 to see their routine.