Ashton athletes off to the US

A group of local dancers and cheerleaders will be jetting off to Florida next week to take part in various tournaments across the pond. 

Elements Extreme, a competitive dance and cheer club based at The Cheer Lab in Ashton, will be taking 24 athletes aged between 10 and 15 to the US, spread across three teams. 

Two cheer teams will be representing the club at the Nfinity Finals between May 2-3, while the club are also taking a junior lyrical dance team to compete at The Dance Summit Championship between May 2-4. 

This will be the first time ever that a team from Tameside has competed in the junior lyrical dance category over in the US. 

To add to this fantastic achievement, the club have already secured two places at next year’s Allstar World Championships in Orlando. 

Becci Cunningham, director of The Cheer Lab and head coach of Elements Extreme told The Reporter ahead of the event: 

“I can’t put into words how proud I am of what we have achieved with our club.  

“It has been 10 years in the making, and I’ve always said to my athletes ‘You’re not ready until you’re ready’ and therefore we only started trying to win bids to Orlando last May. 

“We actually gained our Summit bid on our first try and have since gained Nfinity and Allstar Worlds.  

“Most of the summit athletes have been with me since the beginning and we were winning Grand Champions at age 5 so I knew that one day they’d get to go to America to compete, but I still can’t believe it’s real.  

“My daughter is also on the team which makes it even more special that we’re both attending our first Worlds competition together.  

“Our club motto is ‘the future is yours’ and these children are proving their hard work and dedication is creating their own future.” 

The club are always on the lookout for new athletes and are hosting try outs this July for UK and USA competition teams. 

To find out more, check out the club on Facebook or find them on Instagram: @the_cheer_lab @elementsextremecheerleaders