Photo: Vicki Dill

Spirit Celebration’s Christmas Classic isn’t your typical holiday competition. You would expect to see a Santa, maybe some toys, but this is out of a child’s wildest dreams. The backdrop alone is worthy of something on Broadway. The teams entered the competition floor, through Santa's gold glittered workshop doors. Two fully dressed toy soldiers opened the sparkling doors as the teams came rushing thru to perform. Below the backdrop were rows and rows of bicycles, hula hoops, giant stuffed animals, games, and barbies…it looked better than FAO Schwarz and it was all in the name of charity! In addition, the owner, Billy Smith, bucks political correctness by insisting on pre-competition prayers, saying the Pledge of Allegiance and recognizing our brave military by giving every participant a military dog tag with the number six, which means “I’ve got your back”, in their honor. This competition is a feel good event with a blood donation station and a huge emphasis on supporting the special needs teams. It reminds us of everything that is good and right about the sport of cheerleading. The sport of cheerleading has big numbers and together, with enthusiasm, we can do more.

The over the top decorations were just the beginning though. The line up of teams looked like a Pre-Worlds schedule. Huge programs like Cheer Athletics, Twist and Shout, Pro Spirit, Texas Lonestar Cheer Co., and many more were vying for two of the full paid bids or four of the at large bids. What a nice Christmas gift it would be to receive a full paid bid to Worlds! See all the performances in our ARCHIVED VIDEOS.

Worlds Bid Prelims Saturday Recap:

Level 5 Small Senior:
The Level 5 Senior Small included ProSpirit, Champion Cheer and Rebelz. ProSpirit led this division with their very well executed tumbling. Many of the girls looked like former gymnasts with their perfectly pointed toes and extra tight legs. This division experienced a multitude of stunting falls and bobbles which gave ProSpirit the overall edge but without any of these squads scoring high enough to be a contender for a full paid bid.

Level 5 Large Senior:
In the Level 5 Large Senior were the Cheer Athletics Panthers and Texas Lonestar RED. Both are highly competitive programs and have competed at Worlds year after year since it’s inception in 2004. Texas Lonestar suffered an early setback during their performance, with a team member getting injured mid routine. The music was stopped and an hour later, after adjustments, they performed again from the beginning. When they returned to perform the second time you couldn’t even tell that someone was injured. They covered for her very well,  although she was seen with the paramedic post routine getting assistance for her back injury. Texas Cheer attacked the audience with their opening tumbling. At one point the majority of the team performed synchronized front walkover round off back handspring full twists, which is very difficult to perform in sync. They had an 80’s theme music with songs like “Hey Mickey” and “We Got the Beat” and ended the routine with very visual bright red pom pons, which is rarely seen in competitive cheer. Their only division competitor was the Cheer Athletics Panthers and their showmanship was one of the most confident of the day. One of the highlights was their flatback to ball up sequence done by nine stunt groups. In addition they performed five pyramids in one section. During their pyramid section their fans showed their support by lighting up their audience area with phone flashlights to signify the “Panther Light”. The Panthers finished the day with the fourth highest score in the Level 5 division but just barely scoring higher than the Cheers & More Lady Respect in fifth.

Level 5 Medium Senior:
The Level 5 Senior Medium included Cheer Athletics Onyxcats and Cheers & More Lady Respect from Edmond, Oklahoma. Cheers & More was definitely the underdog but their performance was one of the cleanest of the day. They edged out the Onyxcats with their extremely precise stunting. Their ball up to heel stretch, switch to stretch and switch again to stretch showcased their versatility and ability to stunt on either side as well as show flexibility on both right and left sides. Cheers & More look well prepared and their paper doll pyramid was a picture perfect moment. Onyxcats have a lot of talent but many tumble passes, that were supposed to be full twists, were actually layouts that were attempting to trick the eye of the judge. They suffered a fall in their pyramid and fell behind Cheers & More, who had the fifth highest score of the day and is in contention for a Worlds Bid. Onyxcats finished in tenth place in regards to all the Level 5 teams competing.

Level 5 Senior Small Coed:
In Small Coed we saw the Maverick Cheer Outlaws and Twist & Shout Diamonds. Maverick cheer was a smaller squad which places more responsibility on each member to perform. They had some struggles in their tumbling and stunts but ended the routine with a very visually appealing dance. Twist & Shout had an unexpected all boy basket that resulted from a pass of four boys tumbling together. It was definitely one of the most memorable moments in the routine as it occurred directly at the end of a tumble pass in the front right corner. The young man had serious flying skills! The flyers on this team were very confident and appeared to fly effortlessly during the pyramid. They truly performed to the music while stunting. Neither squad finished high in scoring which will make it difficult to receive a bid unless a team chooses not to accept an At Large Bid.

Level 5 Senior Medium Coed:

Photo: Vicki Dill

In Medium Coed it was battle between Cheer Athletics Junglecats, Cheer Station Flyers and Twist & Shout Obsession. The goal for the CA Junglecats was to have zero stunt mistakes and they achieved their goal. Every performance they do is for their teammate Nick, described as the best guy ever, who they lost in a car wreck earlier in the year. As the Junglecats say, “DI4N - Do It For Nick". The Cheer Station Flyers had some stunt bobbles and falls but continued to show support for each other with “mat talk” as they progressed through each section of the routine. T & S Obsession finished strong with the third highest Level 5 score of the day. During prelims they did have several stunt falls. If Obsession can take what they did the first day, and improve on it, there is a strong chance they could get their hands on the second full paid bid. They have an action packed pyramid sequence with forward swing thru stunts, assisted back layouts, lots of step up arches and a very strong half ball up to stretch pyramid. They finish the pyramid with a quick lib paper doll pyramid, which is always a crowd favorite. We are going out on a limb and predicting there will be an upset over the Wildcats and T & S will take home the second full paid bid over the Wildcats. 

Level 5 Senior Large Coed:
In the Senior Large Coed division there didn’t need to be another team. The Cheer Athletics Cheetahs put on the show of the day and scored nearly three points higher than the second highest Level 5 team of the day. You know a team is good when there’s not one single person who stands out because they’re ALL amazing. The opening began with flyers appearing to fall back as a catcher tosses them into a half up to heel stretch with nine groups hitting solidly. Immediately the groups drop to a straddle catch and cartwheel out for a visual transition. The pyramid section was incredible but the most memorable part was when the two top flyers on each side hit scorpions and flyers in groups behind them appeared to dive through the scorpions. The punch front, step out, corner pass into double whips and then double fulls was flawlessly synchronized. Expect to see the Cheetahs with a big check from Spirit Celebration!

Level 5 International Open Large Coed & Level 5 International Open Small Coed:
Lastly we saw two more Cheer Athletics teams, the Swooshcats being small and the Wildcats being large. The Swooshcats finished basically in the middle of the pack in seventh place and the Wildcats could very likely take one of the two full paid bids having finished in second. The Swooshcats had several falls as well as formation issues. They seemed frustrated with their performance, however there were individuals, that were extremely showy within the team. The Wildcats had some unique acro-style stunts with the flyers basically being in handstands on their bases. Definitely one of the most sensational teams of the day! The Wildcats will have their work cut out for them as they try to maintain that second bid ranking position over Twist & Shout Obsession.

Gym	Division	Score
Maverick Cheer Outlaws	L5 Senior Small Coed	78.15
Rebelz Cheer Relentless	L5 Senior Small	79.6
Cheer Station Flyers	L5 Senior Medium Coed	84.55
Champion Cheer Heat	L5 Senior Small	84.8
ProSpirit Mystic	L5 Senior Small	85.25
Cheer Athletics Onyxcats	L5 Senior Medium	88.15
Texas Lonestar Cheer Company, Inc. RED	L5 Senior Large	88.55
Twist & Shout Tulsa Diamonds	L5 Senior Small Coed	88.6
Cheer Athletics Swooshcats	L5 International Open Small Coed	90.9
Cheer Athletics Junglecats	L5 Senior Medium Coed	92.5
Cheers & More Lady Respect	L5 Senior Medium	92.75
Cheer Athletics Panthers	L5 Senior Large	92.95
Twist & Shout Edmond Obsession	L5 Senior Medium Coed	93.8
Cheer Athletics Wildcats	L5 International Open Large Coed	94.9
Cheer Athletics Cheetahs	L5 Senior Large Coed	97.65