Three Warsaw cheerleaders spent some of November at Disney World performing with other All-American Cheerleaders from around the country.  Sophomore Chloey Brazel, senior Dallas Steinhoff, and junior Paige Collier performed in a parade through Magic Kingdom on Nov. 18.

The three girls, led by cheer coach Shanda Steinhoff and assistant coach Robin Brazel, qualified for the trip after auditioning at their Universal Cheerleading Association summer camp.

Most of the girls left two days in advance on Nov 16 and arrived on Nov 17 in time for the event.

The parade lasted for a full twenty seven minutes of performances.

Only the top ten percent of cheerleaders who attend the varsity camps are chosen to attend at an event of this caliber.

Steinhoff recognized the event as “a great opportunity for our cheerleaders to meet other cheerleaders from all over the United States and come together as a team.”

The girls were honored to attend and Collier described the event as “well worth my time.”

There was about four months of practice in advance as the participants tried out for the All-American honor all the way back in July.

Before the event each girl practiced for over an hour every day, and sometimes multiple hours, with the video choreography to train to ever since October.

Even with all this practice, the girls were still blindsighted when they encountered a last minute change in choreography with many of their ripples and moves being altered. In spite of the difference in the new moves they all worked hard to give their very best and were able to show up and out on the day of the parade.

Brazel, Steinhoff, and Collier were all featured near the back of the parade and gave a great performance as said by Coach Steinhoff.

The girls all say that their biggest regret for all of these students was simply not believing in themselves and trying out for leading positions near the front of the parade, although this experience was good practice under their belt for the next year.

Brazel plans on attending again and described the experience as “good practice” for when she next performs for All American Cheer.

The girls said they had a wonderful experience in Orlando and they all enjoyed meeting the Disney staff as well as all the different people who were performing.

When they weren’t training in advance, the girls were exploring their hotel and enjoying Disney World. For the event, all of the staff interacted with the girls and had breakfast with them.

All three were ecstatic to attend. 

   “I am going to try out for All American Cheer every year of my high school experience,” Brazel said.

Brazel also described herself as being refreshed and, “ready to come back after the little break with a renewed attitude and ready to learn”.

Steinhoff seemed to really enjoy her time there and the only negative thing she had to say was that “everybody was feeling it near the end,” due to their high nerves and long performance time.

   Steinhoff has performed with the All-American Cheerleading two years in a row. Last year, she performed at the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando.

   Steinhoff said she enjoyed this year’s trip the most because “there were more opportunities to perform for this trip than last year.”

   Collier said that everything was wonderful and really fun describing it as “well worth”, the time and preparation.

   Despite being a non-school related function the parade was highly beneficial to the students who attended. 

   Overall, the girls had a fun time at this event as well, showing how the experience is truly special to school students.