SOLENT University’s Cheerleading team, Royalty, have been crowned National Champions.
Joana Varanda (front row, second from the left) is a flyer on the team. The position is self-explanatory but for those who do not follow cheerleading, there are three flyers who are thrown up into the air by their bases and back spot. They aim to complete flips or stretches and aim to land in the bases’ arms.
Joana also coaches the team alongside Niamh Tsang (back row, third from the left), both of whom are extremely proud of their group after being National Champions.
Joana said how the team celebrated.
“We were all extremely happy and shocked. We celebrated together on the floor right after the win, and the celebrations continued afterwards. It was a really special moment for the whole team.
“When competing in cheer, everyone needs to be on the same page. If one person makes an error, it could lead to a pileup of athletes; therefore, trust is very important.
“Trust is essential. You have to trust that everyone is putting in the effort at every practice and working toward the same goal. As a flyer, especially, you need to trust your bases and backspots completely, they keep you safe and allow you to perform confidently.”
It was only when the scores were read out that Joana realised the magnitude of their achievement.
“The moment it really hit me was when Niamh and I got our score sheet back and saw that we’d hit zero (a flawless routine) and scored a 94. At that point, we knew we’d done really well, but we didn’t know if it was enough to win until they announced second place. That’s when it hit us.”
Joana does not just cheer at Uni, she also competes in another all-star team. She added how it felt to win at the Uni level: “It felt very different from what I’m used to with my all-star teams.
“In all-star cheer, there’s often an expectation to win, but with our uni team, we hadn’t won in several years. So although we all wanted to win, we weren’t sure it was possible. When it actually happened, it felt incredibly rewarding.”
The team won their division, Non-tumble coed 2 (NTC2) against seven other teams. Non-tumble means the teams are banned from standing or running tumbling such as flips or handsprings. A coed team is where male and female athletes compete together.
“This is a great achievement not only for the University, but all athletes who made it possible!”
