Northern Ireland

Select category:

Northern Ireland

The UKCA is in Northern Ireland this weekend!

Today we are all systems go at the Antrim Forum in Northern Ireland for the Antrim Primary Schools Festival! This event is happening throughout the whole of today, we can’t wait to see all of the cheerleaders, coaches and supporters at the event. This event is an important date in the calendar for us here at The UKCA. The majority of our cheerleaders are based in England so it can be difficult for us to arrange large events of this scale in the area of Northern Ireland. However, we do ensure that we have events which run there throughout the year, so this Festival is a wonderful experience for us to get our young cheerers together and have a fun filled day.

10341494_801267423252392_4517220576773578996_n

Due to our lack of high numbers of UKCA members within Northern Ireland we recommend that if you want to run a course or complete more UKCA events & educational based programmes, that you set up a course in your area. This is a great chance for experienced coaches and members to up their skills and take on the challenge of running a UKCA course themselves. It’s brilliant to be in control of your own training and you will be able to create a fantastic cheer community in your area. Please find all of the information for setting up a club or hosting a course in your area here.

We can’t wait for all of our events in Northern Ireland and will be adding as many events in that area as we can.

We are proud of you! Team UKCA.

The UKCA across all Three Home Countries!

UKCA has held courses up and down the country. It’s brilliant to be training so many UKCA members and helping them to improve their skills. Holding courses in England, Scotland and Wales we’re so happy to see so many cheerleaders, coaches and members here in the UK. With plenty of training and education courses across all 3 of the home countries we are very proud to see so many cheerleaders mastering their craft!

6C5397DB-CE7A-4797-B5E7-BFC9BB587BC3

All of the courses which we are holding across the entirety of the United Kingdom mean that we are sure to be impressed with the cheer talent at our competitions. With the Northern Ireland National Championships only 1 week away we can’t wait to see all the new skills put into practice! There are many UK Cheerleading competitions which take place throughout the year, we’re also looking forward to the championships in March – how could we forget? Make sure you purchase your tickets for these events (if possible, as some are just available at the venue box office on the day) to ensure you aren’t disappointed!

DD5BE5BA-CE7E-486E-95A9-2EC9CE559905

We love to see all of the supporters in the crowds at our events & competitons, here at The UKCA we have so many wonderful parents & supporters to come along to our events and keep the atmosphere up all day long! See you all soon

We are proud of you!

Team UKCA.

#ThisGirlCan

A Busy Start to 2015!

It’s been a busy start to the year here at The UKCA, with our involvement with the This Girl Can campaign, from Sport England. Find out more about they are campaigning to encourage females to get involved with sport, no matter their appearance. find outmode on their website here, and use the hashtag #ThisGirlCan when to engage on Twitter. Let us know what you have been doing so we can share your #ThisGirlCan stories.

Today is the final day for the entries in the Northern Ireland National Schools & Club Championships, held at the Antrim Forum 9 – 6pm on Saturday the 28th February 2015. This is a fantastic competition as we cover several aspects of Cheer from group stunts to pom dance. Make sure you enter the competition today by following the link here to complete your registration. Spectator tickets are still available for this event, so head along and show your support!

CF29ADC5-0461-40B3-9716-5BFCD6931E7F

Then of course we have our UKCA National Championships Competition on March the 21st & 22nd March 2015! Download the competition entry form and submit your completed application, as the deadline for entries is 6th February 2015. Spectator tickets are available for this event, make sure that you purchase your tickets soon as not to be disappointed. On the Saturday the competition will hold a strong focus on Cheerleading & stunt whilst the Sunday will showcase pom, Cheer dance and Street Cheer. Make sure that you book your team into the day which suits your skill set best.

We can’t wait for the competitions this year! We love it when the beginning of a new year comes around, as there are so many UKCA competitions & courses to look forward to! See you at our events, we are proud of you!

Cheerleading Hits The Headlines: Part Two

It’s been a truly positive day for the world of Cheerleading and the press coverage continues. Macclesfield’s Maximum Cheer featured on Sky News today around 5.20pm, talking about how excellent of a sport Cheerleading is whilst showing off some of their skills.

If you missed the report on Sky News, we managed to get hold of these screenshots of the team along with coach Rachael Burrows:

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

We will keep you up-to-date with all the coverage as it comes through. It’s days like these that leave us with a massive smile on our face here at the UKCA. We are proud of you, say we are proud of you!

What do you think about the news? What’s your opinion? Get in touch and let us know – we’d love to hear from.

Cheerleading Hits The Headlines

Cheerleading is in the press today in a big way. Tory MP Helen Grant has suggested that more women should take up sport. She say’s that Cheerleading is a fantastic way to encourage women to get involved in more activity.

Screen shot 2014-02-21 at 15.38.46

Here at UKCA, we wholeheartedly agree! Not just women either, people of all ages are involved with Cheerleading up and down the country.

We feel that this is a very positive announcement and that the government are finally beginning to acknowledge what we have known all along – Cheerleading is a sport! And a fantastic one at that. We have over 7000 people attending with over 4000 competing in our Cheerleading comp happening in just 3 weeks time!

Cheerleading at Manchester Velodrome

The announcement has also led to some debate, with certain people saying that encouraging women to take up a ‘feminine’ sport is sexist. Here at the UKCA, we think that anything that encourages the people of the UK to take up this awesome sport can only be a good thing.

Anyone who has tried Cheerleading or actively partakes in the sport will know that it is not for the faint hearted! The hours and hours of rehearsals, the highs and the heartbreaks – we know just how dedicated you have to be!

Read some of the articles here & here.

We are very pleased to see Cheerleading getting recognition in the press, this is a big step forward. What do you think about the news? What’s your opinion? Get in touch and let us know – we’d love to hear from.

Tip #3 – Stay Positive

It’s easy for a cheerleader to be spirited at a competition when the energy is up and music is playing. It’s another thing to be positive during a difficult practice session or poor performance.

If your squad is having an “off” day, don’t get discouraged. Try raising everyone’s spirits by getting the squad to perform a favourite cheer, blast some fun music, or ask for a five-minute break to talk about any feelings of discouragement.

1604908_657828984262904_269157861_n

UKCA Northern Ireland at 2013 World Police & Fire Games

UKCA Northern Ireland made a huge impact at the the 2013 World Police & Fire Games hosted by Belfast City this August.

Following the opening ceremony the home nation Facebook page received 1 short of 2000 hits. The participation and end result of a televised showcase by our local cheerleaders topped by officially leading 500 athletes from team Canada out in the opening ceremony was an amazing opportunity to promote our sport of smiles and that it most certainly did.

UKCA NI

Following weeks of preparation and a wash out rehearsal the opening ceremony day dawned with lots of sunshine much to the delight of all our foreign visitors and athletes.

Nerves were very obvious as the cheerleaders entered the huge holding arena where the thousands of athletes were gathered awaiting the official start. All eyes were on the cheerleaders and true to form and led by national coach, Karen Graham, the team started to chant a spirit raiser to all athletes. The stadium was electric and hair raised on arms as every individual rose to the challenge. What an experience is was and we will never forget it.

UKCA NI and Team Canada

The squad led team Canada into the public arena as proud onlookers, parents and coach watched on the huge outdoor screen as the event was televised. The cheerleaders were fantastic. Texts, tweets and other messages of support came flooding through as the images from the stadium were televised around the world.

This set the scene for the showcase that followed and it blew the crowds away. The experience reduced the team and parents to tears of pride and joy.

Many enquiries are now flooding to the home nation representative for new recruits to start in our dynamic sport. The inclusion of mature ladies on the showcase has certainly prompted over 18’s to enquire about classes.

UKCA NI on stage

A big thank you must be said to the 20 cheerleaders who volunteered from six local clubs and were fabulous ambassadors not only for cheerleading but for Northern Ireland.

UKCA Northern Ireland delivered a quality service and cleverly represented a team showing the wide diversity of ages and levels from teenies to master and level 2-4.

We are proud of YOU!

The next BIG event to come to Belfast will be Dance Fusion with international guests…watch this space!