LAZER CHEER ICE QUEENS FLORIDA TRIP – ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE.
Following on from the articles we have already published about the Lazer Cheer Ice Queens visit to Florida, we wanted to conclude our coverage by providing an insight into the trip from a different perspective.
The visit to Florida was truly a team effort, both from the point of view of the seven Ice Queens competitors and also their support team – coaches, family members and friends.
Because it was challenging getting the whole squad together at school, especially as the Year 11 students were in the process of sitting their GCSE exams, we asked a series of questions by email – what follows are the questions followed by an edited selection of the brilliant answers provided by some of the Ice Queens. I’m sure you’ll agree that their answers provide an insight into the trip, but also an idea of how much being part of the Ice Queens team and the Lazer Cheer community means to these students.
The seven competitors who travelled out to Florida were: Year 12: Jessie Hankin; Year 11: Ellie Hughes, Molly Shanley, Shelby (Ren) Carter, Katie Proudlock; Year 8: Rose Harris, Ava Craggs.
Providing (detailed) answers to the emailed questions was entirely optional!
- How long have you been going to Lazer Cheer and what do you like about it?
Molly: I have been doing Lazer Cheer since I was 3 so this year is my 13th year and my second time going abroad with the programme. I love it at Lazers because it’s a whole different community and everyone there is like my second family. I also coach which means I get to help the main coaches with the younger ones which I absolutely love because I can help them just like how I was helped when I was younger.
Jessie: I have been at Lazer Cheer for nearly 14 years – it is a big part of my life and has been for a while. The sport helps me feel confident and develop skills. Lazer Cheer has created a great environment for athletes to thrive and feel supported, the people there are like a second family to me.
Rose: Since I was 5 years old.
Ava: I started Lazer Cheer when I was 3 years old and my first team was Lazer Monsters.
Ellie: I started from the age of 4 and I’m now 16. Cheer has given me confidence that I would never have had without it. I used to be a very timid and sensitive child but cheer helped me to come out of my shell and truly be myself!
- How long did you practise the Florida routine for and what was your role in the routine?
Molly: In the routine I am a backspot and a tumbler. We had four days of training whilst in Florida in a number of well known cheerleading gyms, as well as extra training on the football field where we took part in UK show offs and also at ESPN itself.
Jessie: The girls on the Summit squad had trained the routine for about a year, while I helped coach it. The routine I was an athlete (a base) in at the Open had only been worked on for one or two months, but it held similarities to the Summit routine. That was just routine work though, many athletes have been working themselves for longer to get on the team and to get the bid for the competition.
Rose: Since September 2023. I am a flyer and tumbler.
Ava: We got the bid back in July 2023 and we started training around the end of August, start of September. My role is a base – lifting people up in the stunts.
Ellie: Well, since September of 2023 we practised every Thursday with the additional Sunday training starting in January of 2024. Then in the Easter holiday before we went we had what’s called a ‘hell week’ when we were in almost EVERY day training.
- What was the journey out to Florida like and what was it like when you got there?
Molly: The journey out to Florida was very long – nine hours, but I was happy because I got a window seat. I was sitting next to Ren so we kept ourselves occupied by watching films and doing word searches. The food on the plane was delicious: I had the mac and cheese, however we were given ice lollies flavoured with vegetables which wasn’t very nice. When we arrived in Florida it was extremely warm compared to how it felt in the UK and the air conditioning on the plane.
Jessie: The journey was very well organised. With the number of us going I assumed it would be a bit chaotic, but our coaches and the parents with us did a great job managing us. The plane journey was long but most girls found a way to entertain themselves. There were a few going around braiding people’s hair so most of us landed with the same hairstyle. When we got there it was like a wake up call that we were actually in Florida, so we were all very excited.
Rose: It was a very long flight and it was boiling hot when we got outside of the airport.
Ava: We flew with Virgin Atlantic. All of my teammates and coaches were so excited and happy! It was definitely a highlight when we landed as it felt so real and such a good achievement to be there doing what we love.
Ellie: Hot. Very Hot. You don’t actually realise what it’s like until you’re there. Over there it was colder inside than it was outside… quite the opposite here.
- Where did you stay – what was the accommodation like?
Molly: We stayed in a villa as a whole team and I shared a room with Ellie, Katie and Ren. All the rooms were themed and we got the Jurassic themed room which was the biggest out of them all. The villa also had a pool and a games room which were both fun and relaxing when we had free time.
Jessie: We stayed at a villa that had 15 bedrooms. There were at least two to a room, so it was a very full house. I enjoyed it when just walking through the villa – it was always lively. There was typically a group hanging out in the common space, people running in and out of rooms and always loud chatter – it was a fun environment to be in! There was a large dining area which was filled when we ate all together, another lively atmosphere. There was also a pool which was great to cool down in and we had a pool party on one night.
Rose: We stayed in a villa and it was good but very chaotic since there were so many people.
Ava: All of us stayed in a villa not too far away. It had lots of space with loads of rooms. The rooms were super cool as they all had a theme. For example there were three of us in our room and our theme was Mario. It had Mario wallpaper, Mario bedding and a Mario shower. Each bedroom had a different theme with 2-4 people sharing. The villa had its own pool and games room and a very big kitchen diner. It was amazing!
Ellie: We stayed in a big villa altogether and spent time with our squad every night and had meals together for breakfast and tea.
- What did you like about the competition? Did it go well? Is there anything that could have gone better?
Molly: I really enjoyed the experience the competition gave me and we did really well in both competitions. One we came 1st (Open) and the other we came 31st out of 56 (Summit). Summit was extremely tough as to go through to day two we needed to come at least 16th – we were 0.75 points away. I was really happy with both competition performances and don’t think we could’ve done anything different.
Jessie: The competition I was an athlete in we won. It was a two day competition and we did very well the first day but the second day the judges thought it lacked energy. I was still happy with both routines as a whole. At the Summit I was a coach and I was amazed with the performance the girls put out. The routine hit great, it showed off all the hard work the girls put in. They hit zero and I think they put their all into it, doing their best.
Rose: It was very big and loads of people could watch you. We could have been sharper with motions. We hit zero.
Ava: The competition was amazing. It went so well as we hit zero. Hitting zero in cheerleading means that you did your routine with no mistakes and that was a goal for us and we achieved it as a team. We were so happy with ourselves and the coaches were so unbelievably proud of us.
Ellie: Both competitions we competed at were absolutely incredible – we did our very best. In the first competition we came first and in the second (which is the one we originally won the bid for) we were able to produce the best routine we had ever done and ‘Hit Zero’ meaning that we got zero deductions in the routine!
- What was the biggest highlight of the trip?
Molly: The biggest highlight of the trip for me was probably competing at the Summit. Little me would never have known I’d ever be competing there. Even when I went abroad with the Lazers to Atlanta in 2020 I would never have thought I’d have made it to the Summit. But a standout non-cheer related highlight was probably Animal Kingdom – there were so many thrilling rides and we went on a safari where I could see my favourite animal – giraffes.
Jessie: My biggest highlight was cheering on Ice Queens at the front of the Summit as their coach. I have been an athlete for many years with some of the girls and I have witnessed how hard all the girls have worked in their own time and in the gym, so seeing them complete this massive achievement is amazing. I am so proud of all the girls. I have such a great respect for their dedication and love of the sport – I am one of their biggest fans. I know many want to achieve more through cheer in the future and I fully believe in them.
Rose: At summit it was hitting zero and in general was all of the parks and training.
Ava: The biggest highlight of the trip for me was to experience competing in America for the first time, but what made it better was going with your teammates which felt like a family. It brought us so much closer as a team and I got to live everyday with them and had so much fun. We even got to go to the Disney parks. The actual cheerleading itself was a highlight as I got to represent Lazer Cheer Academy from the UK in America. The competition was also shown on a big screen with viewers watching from all over the world. It was a highlight and a memory I will never forget.
Ellie: The biggest highlight was getting to experience one of the best experiences cheer can offer you and to do this with all my friends (and my mum and brothers!) was honestly a dream come true.
You can watch the Ice Queens perform by going to these links:
Video 1: https://tinyurl.com/IceQueens1
Video 2: https://tinyurl.com/IceQueens2