Cheerleaders make magic on national stage

Mar 13, 2025

After hours in the gym throwing each other high in the sky, flipping through the air and refining routines to perfection, two cheerleading teams put their skills to the test against some of the best teams in the country.

The Wareham Tigers Cheer Athletics sent two teams to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World to compete in The Quest Recreational Cheer Championship held March 7 and 8.

Wareham Tigers Cheer Athletics President Damon Solomon said the competition is the "super bowl" for recreational cheerleading teams in the U.S. and getting there is the Tigers goal every year.

In order to qualify for the competition, both teams had to earn a bid during their competition season by placing high in regional or state-level events by scoring well on their performance in stunts, tumbling, and execution.

The two teams who competed, Pride and Inspir3 (Inspire) are comprised of girls age 10 to 18 but compete in different divisions. Pride placed fourth in their division and Inspir3 placed second.

Solomon said day one of the competition didn't go as planned and both teams had points deducted from their score due to errors in their routines.

However, Solomon said both teams put their nerves behind them and had strong performances on day two.

He added Pride received one deduction during their day two performance which meant they just missed out on third place by three tenths of a point.

Inspir3 put together a perfect routine, receiving zero deductions during their day two performance but it wasn't quite enough for first, which they missed out on by two tenths of a point.

Wareham Tigers Cheer Athletics is a youth travel cheerleading program that provides athletes ages 4 to 18 the opportunity to train, compete and grow in the sport of cheerleading.

The Tigers head to Worcester on April 26 for the U.S. Finals, their last competition of the season.