Westfield cheerleading team competes at national competition in Florida

The REPORTER
The Westfield High School (WHS) cheerleading team competed last weekend at one of the nation’s most prestigious cheerleading competitions, the National High School Cheerleading Championship, and finished in 32nd place out of 114 teams in their division.
The National High School Cheerleading Championship is produced by the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA), a division of Varsity Spirit – the global leader in cheerleading, dance team and band apparel, camps and competitions, and a division of Varsity Brands, the market leader in team sports, school spirit and achievement recognition.
The National High School Cheerleading Championship, held Feb. 10 to 12 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at The Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., is the pinnacle of cheerleading competitions for high school cheerleaders across the country. This year’s event hosted 1,125 teams across 33 states. Teams competing at the championship must have qualified at a regional competition in 2022. Teams competed a Traditional Routine, Game Day, and the newest division at the championship, Game Day Live. The Game Day Live division debuted in 2020 and offers cheer teams the opportunity to perform with their school’s band members in a live performance setting and translate their traditions from the sidelines to the competition floor.
“The National High School Cheerleading Championship has been a spectacle to celebrate the power of school spirit, community, athleticism, and talent,” said Bill Seely, President of Varsity Spirit. “We are thrilled to celebrate the 40th anniversary of airing the National High School Cheerleading Championship on ESPN. Providing a national championship platform to magnify what these remarkable athletes are doing and the good they have done on campuses across America, while giving them an opportunity to compete for a national title is core to our mission of elevating student experiences.”
The National High School Cheerleading Championship was the first of its kind in 1980, created to reward cheerleaders for their work on the sidelines and to create a venue in which they could be recognized for their talents and abilities. This championship has been featured on ESPN since 1983 and has been broadcast to hundreds of millions of homes. Varsity Spirit partnered with the Walt Disney World Resort in 1995 and has been creating unforgettable National Championship experiences ever since.
“We couldn’t have been prouder of how our team represented Westfield,” WHS Cheerleading Head Coach Kayleigh Paschal said. “We weren’t sure what to expect once we got down to Disney, but these girls gave it their all and are now ready to start working on goals for next year!”
For more information on the National High School Cheerleading Championship, please visit Varsity. com. Varsity Spirit live streamed the championship on Varsity TV, a website dedicated to exclusive live coverage and video libraries of Varsity Spirit cheer and dance competitions. Videos of the routines are available for fans who were otherwise unable to attend, and full results listings are available on Varsity TV. The championship will air on ESPN2 and ESPNU beginning in the Spring of 2023. Viewers can check their local listings for air times.