Deer Valley Cheerleaders headed to National Championships

Deer Valley Cheerleaders headed to National Championships


The world could use more cheerleaders. They’re the ones out in front always smiling and encouraging the rest of us to be positive, to be excited, to be more involved.

Cheerleading is hard work. The hardest part is the commitment to practice every morning at 5am three hours a day, all year long. No time off in the summer. The program is demanding.

Deer Valley Coach Vicki Jones demands her cheerleaders have excellent attendance, good grades, incredible attitude and time management skills to stay on the team. Training includes tumbling, gymnastics and running for endurance. All of that sweat and aches for what? The payoff is to be the best, to compete at a national level, and to do it all with your closest friends.

Camaraderie is what motivates sixteen Deer Valley Cheerleaders age 14-18 who will be headed to the UCA (Universal Cheer Association) National Championship competition in Orlando Florida in February. It will be televised on ESPN. Deer Valley won 1st place at the Regional UCA Competition back in November which qualified them for the UCA Nationals.

“We are competing against east coast teams and it’s a really tough competition. The west coast teams hardly ever make it into the top ten,” says Jones. “The west coast style is more performance oriented, where the east coast style is more crowd oriented. So we’re taking a routine this year that is a more crowd oriented performance.”

Cheerleader senior Mercedes Camarillo says, “It’s a lot of hard work to win. The teams are really competitive. Coach Jones keeps us very disciplined. She’s hard on us but it’s worth it because she knows what it takes to win.”

Jones knows the competition. “It will have to be a flawless routine to succeed in Orlando. I have some girls who went last year and know what to expect and that’s helpful. We started working last June and some girls came in not being able to do much. By this time of year they are amazed about what they can do.”

Deer Valley Cheerleaders will also be going to UCA competition in Anaheim this March. They work hard at fundraising by selling candy and holding bake sales, anything they can to cover the trip expenses. Training, fundraising and travel builds strong bonds between the girls.

“We are all really close because we spend so much time together,” Camarillo comments. “We’re like a family.”

An opportunity to see the Deer Valley Cheerleaders in action is coming up soon when Glendale’s Jobing.com Arena will host the Arizona Interscholastic Association 2007 AIA State Spirit Line Championships competition on January 20th. It’s a huge competition including anyone who has qualified at a regional. “Deer Valley Cheerleaders will compete in Pom, Show and Stunt categories. For the last 3 years we have won 1st in the Show division,” says Jones.

Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for students with proper ID. Tickets are available the day of the competition beginning at 7:30am. The doors will open for the spectators at 7:30am and the competition will begin at 8:30am. A performance timeline will be online at www.aiaonline.org under "Activities" and "Spirit Lines" beginning Jan. 12.

Assistant Coaches Crystal Tuscano and Amy Coughanor will travel with the team and work to perfect the performances that have brought the Deer Valley Cheerleaders so many accolades. Camarillo says, “The coaching is what has brought us success. They give us the time to learn our performances. They are hard on us, but that’s what it takes to win. They have taught us to never give up.”