Using everyone’s strengths

UC Irvine’s Bren Event Center was filled with cheers Sunday: cheering in the stands, cheering out the door, and cheering on the floor.

That was the point, as Cheersport Irvine Grand Championship had hundreds of kids and teens from across Southern California tumbling, jumping, kicking and making formations for a crowded stadium.

Teams from as far away as Camarillo and Bakersfield showed up to compete for top prizes in numerous events, with age groups ranging from elementary age to high school. Every one of the 53 teams competing got a trophy, but some had their eyes on national championships in Atlanta next month.

The Costa Mesa-based Stealth All-Stars, the only local program in the competition, fielded two teams. Stealth has only existed since last spring when it was started at the Team OC gymnastics studio, but team coach and choreographer Jasen Aldridge said they were holding up like pros in the packed schedule of competitive cheerleading.

“They’re doing really well,” Aldridge said. “Not many teams have 90 kids to work with, especially in the first year.”

Those numbers let him highlight each girl’s skills, he said.

“You can use each kid’s strength,” he said. “Which is important when you only have two and a half minutes to show the judges everything.”

Judging covers not only the overall presentation but also how well specific moves like tumbling and pyramids — the iconic cheerleading move where a group of girls hoists one of their teammates into the air — are pulled off.

Being synchronized is also crucial, which can be tough when 30 or 40 girls are making the same motion at once.

The Stealth youth team of elementary-age girls took the bronze in its category, while parents showed their own enthusiasm from the stands.

Santa Ana resident Susan Foster spent the day watching her 8-year-old daughter Mia jump and tumble. Mia was never much for athletics, but she went wild for cheering after she tried out in May, Foster said.

“It’s a huge commitment,” she said. “I think doing this is teaching her how to put in the time for something she feels is important.”

The Stealth teams practice at least six hours a week during the competition season, with extra hours set aside to work on tumbling skills, Aldridge said.

As one team showed its stuff, another was warming up behind the curtain, and scores of girls gathered outside the building to work on moves, touch up eye shadow the same color as their bright uniforms, or huddle up in preparation for the big event.

Parents, however, were doing their own thinking as the kids and teens performed.

“They’ve changed their routine a little bit this time,” parent Lea Tamblyn of Costa Mesa noted, as daughter Paige and her 30-odd teammates rushed off the floor, visibly excited from the routine they’d just pulled off. “They’ve got a lot more confidence now.”

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at [email protected].