Lethbridge cheerleading team secures spot at world championships

LETHBRIDGE -

A Lethbridge cheerleading team is on top of the world – or at least they're looking to be.

The Peak Elite Cheerleading Everest team is heading to the World Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Fla., from Apr.19 to 21 and can't wait to show the world what they've got.

"They started when they were eight to 10 years old. It's been a slow and steady progression to get them to Level 6 and I could not be more proud," said Peak Elite’s owner and head coach, Samantha Paradee.

They punched their ticket for worlds at the Cold Snap Championship in Edmonton on Jan.22, earning the final Alberta bid there.

A bid is an invitation to compete and must be earned through competing at an event that offers them, with nine bids being given out at Cold Snap and more to be handed out at competitions over the next couple of months.

Peak Elite, formerly known as Perfect Storm, is no stranger to winning.

They’ve taken home many championship titles but heading to the international stage pushes them to a whole new level of competition.

"This is the first time that Peak Elite has sent somebody to worlds," said Paradee.

"It's the first gym in Lethbridge that's ever sent a team to worlds, so yeah, we're the first. It's a big deal."

Cheerleading isn’t just a sport reserved for high-schoolers, either.

Peak Elite has multiple teams besides Everest, with athletes ranging from just four years old all the way up to 55.

The Everest team is made up of 15 members aged 14 to 21.

Now, with international competition on the horizon, the athletes expect training to kick into high gear.

"Practice is going to be a lot more strict, not as much time messing around," said Kadin Otis, a member of the Everest team.

"We're definitely going to be doing more stunts and more repetition, for sure."

"This is a huge opportunity for us, so we need to make sure we’re ready," added another of Everest’s members, Kenzie Fedorowich.

"We want to be able to achieve a common goal, so we all have to go and work really hard together."

The team was supposed to go to Florida back in 2020 for the Summit Cheerleading Championships, but that was cancelled due to the pandemic.

"We were denied our first world's opportunity because of COVID, so this is our comeback and we're really excited to have the opportunity and to just put it all on the mat," said Paradee.

"At the end of the day, we're just going to strive to be better than we were the day before," added Fedorowich.

"So I'm just looking for us to just kill it when we go to Florida."

The Everest team still has a lot of practice ahead of them in preparation for the World Championships, but they still have to keep the cheer at a maximum with multiple competitions coming up, including the Imagine Cheer and Dance Competition in Calgary this weekend.

They’re hoping to use these upcoming competitions to get more bids to help them fund the trip down to Florida in April.

Multiple teams from Alberta and Canada will be joining Everest in Florida, with more spots still available before the season wraps up.