Atlantic Canada’s largest cheerleading event returns to Halifax for its 23rd year

Cheer Expo hosted their national cheerleading championships in Halifax over the weekend, featuring more than 100 teams, not just from the region, but from around the country.

“It’s a variety of ages, so starring at U6, which is under six, so four, five, and six year olds, right up until open, which is 17 plus. You can be as old as you want to be, if you want to be 85 and still do it, you can,” says Cheer Expo president and event organizer Laura Mar.

Mar says the tournament is growing year over year. This year, they had 86 teams from out of town, some even from as far as Alberta.

The tournament is a significant one, as scores can determine whether a team qualifies for tournaments outside the region.

“Especially for those teams looking to go to other events, this is where they need to put it all on the line, this is where they need to earn their bids and spots in the next events,” says Mar.

“This tournament has a lot of opportunity for bids to go to international events outside of our own province and out of country. This tournament gives out bids to the ISF Cheerleading worlds which takes place in Florida, as well as super bids, which can be used in different countries across Europe and it also has bids to the ISA, which is a new tournament taking place in Montreal this summer,” says Erica Royal, Cheer Nova Scotia president.

Whether the team’s focus is tumbling, dance, stunts, gymnastics or acrobatics, just competing at the event is exciting for the athletes.

“Something we’ve been trying to get for a couple years now is max out award, so we are trying to get that and then judges’ choice, specialty awards, like amazing choreography, pyramids, stunts and stuff,” says Stella Graham, who cheers with Halifax Cheer Elite.

“We hit zero, so it was a lot of fun and we just hit it,” says Nyla Elias, who cheers with Empire Athletics South Shore.

This year, the turnout only continues to grow as well, something organizers were happy to see.

“There’s lots of people here. It’s a very exciting event, it’s a very electric feeling when you come in, the music is pumping, lots of lights. And the teams are putting on a great show,” says Mar.

“I have watched it grow from a very small competition to the giant event that you see today,” adds Royal.

The event is a full circle moment for the head coach of the U12 Empire Athletics South Shore Titans, Jessica Adler. She grew up competing at the tournament and now shares her passion and knowledge.

“Since our last competition we had about six weeks and we changed pretty much everything in our routine and the lesson I wanted these kids to learn this weekend is it’s OK to start over,” says Adler.

Win or lose, at the end of the day, the personal goals are the most important to the cheerleaders. When they leave the mats, they take new skills with them.

“You have to work hard, you have to persevere and show up for your team. You can’t just miss practice. This is very much a sport that is reliant on every person on the team putting in 100 per cent. So, it teaches them to show up for themselves, show up for your teammates and time management,” adds Adler.

The tournament wrapped up Sunday evening. Organizers say they hope for an even bigger turnout of athletes and spectators next year.

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