Saturday 2nd October marked a major milestone for Cheerleading in Northern Ireland as UKCA Regional Representative Karen Graham held inaugural auditions for an ALLSTAR Squad with newly appointed Squad Coaches Cathy Bell-Allen and Sara McNeilly.

30 young athletes turned up at the audition venue and were put through an intense series of workshops to select the final team under the watchful eyes of Karen, Cathy and Sara.

The outcome of the day resulted in a Junior Cheerleading Squad and Senior Dance Squad.
The standard was very high and set the bench mark for what will be an exciting year ahead.
Tumbling and stunting skills matched the expectations of the Squad Coaches as did the standard of dance.

The Auditions will now be an annual part of Northern Ireland’s Long Term Athlete Development Plan as it strives to follow UKCA’s model and Competition Pathway to prepare its athletes for Elite, European and World level Championships.

The newly appointed squads are now preparing for their first Elite UKCA Championships in March 2011.

As Squad Director I am excited that the establishment of an ALL STAR SQUAD will raise the bar on Cheerleading both here and in the UK and will further achieve the recognition that Cheerleading deserves.

TEAM UK NATIONAL COACH VISIT
Saturday 30th marked the first visit to N.Ireland of Team UK National Coach Tarren Smarr.
Tarren put the newly appointed squad through their paces in a 6 hour training schedule and the squad did not disappoint.
Workshops were delivered in tumbling, jump technique, stunts and transitions and flexibility.
Tarren certainly left the squad and coaches enthused and very much inspired as her passion and drive for Cheerleading were infectious throughout the day.
We all look forward very much to our next training day together.

Karen Graham
UKCA N.Ireland Representative
ALLSTAR SQUAD DIRECTOR