At its Sunday, April 30, end-of-season banquet, Titanium Gymnastics and Cheerleading’s girls had good reason to celebrate.
The All-Star Prep cheerleading team, assembled in August 2016, completed its first season with two competition wins in three tries. The girls won the Spirit Sports Battle by the Bay and the 2017 Jamfest Jam Bash Nationals, and placed second overall at the 2017 American Cheer Power Tournament of Champions.
The team began with three cheerleaders on its roster, and needed five to compete. From September through February — three weeks before Battle by the Bay — five more girls joined up. Though it was the first time many of the girls had competed on an All-Star Prep team, which uses a spring floor, coaches say they picked up the choreography quickly, starting in early January.
“We did all of our choreography in one day because these kids are really fast learners,” head coach Gina Pribil says. “It’s nothing that we’ve seen before. They were able to do everything in four hours — it was a two-minute routine and, in four hours, they were able to do it.”
The first competition was the Battle by the Bay, held Saturday, Feb. 25, through Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. As the only team in its division, Senior level 2, Titanium won.
“We started sooner than most teams did for the senior age division,” Pribil says.
But, having no competition didn’t mean the girls weren’t nervous.
“A lot of them were very nervous, but they had the confidence to just go out there and rock it … almost every cheerleader, they’ll get nervous before,” assistant coach Ellie Shouse says. “As soon as they get on stage, those nerves just completely go away.”
It was good preparation for Jamfest, held Saturday, April 1, at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, where Titanium competed against four other teams and won.
“We were pleasantly surprised,” Pribil says. “We had no doubt in our mind that we would be able to beat the other teams. We knew that we had a fighting chance.”
On Sunday, April 9, the team competed closer to home in the Tournament of Champions. Though Titanium took second place at the USF Sun Dome, the team did receive an award for “Best Choreography” and got a plaque to bring home.
Titanium is hoping to field a bigger team next season, and is set to host tryouts next week. Cheerleaders age 12 and up can try out Tuesday, May 9, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and those age 5 to 11 can try out Thursday, May 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tryouts for all ages are open Saturday, May 13, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 402, W. Ball St., Plant City. The cost for tryouts in $45.
For additional information, call (813) 659-2204 or email Titanium.Gym.Cheer@gmail.com.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.