Last week, ESPN held a world wide event called Cheerleading Worlds. This year it was held in Orlando, Florida, from April 25-28. Teams all around the world that won bids were able to compete to become a world champion. For the past few years, teams have really given it their all and shown out, but many people this year have been questioning if something is in the air. A lot of teams that never dropped a stunt ended up with deductions for wobbly or falling stunts.
Cheerleading is a very strict sport. When stunting at such a big event, teams get deducted points for the smallest things. Lots of the big, well known teams that have been expected to win ended up with stunts dropping or teammates getting injured.
One of the teams that had to stop their routine due to an injury is Toxic. Everyone was watching the team perform when all of a sudden an injury happened, causing the music to stop. Teammate Lexi Grasty was the bockspot of her stunt group that ended up with the injury.
While throwing up a basket, she suffered a concussion from being hit too hard while trying to catch her flyer. She was laying on the ground, and when she tried to get up, she couldn’t stand straight. Many people at the event or even watching from home were worried about her, making up reasons why this may have happened to her.
Grasty posted a video defending herself against the lies being spread about her.
“I never had a concussion prior to this. I’ve never even gotten hurt before like that,” Grasty said in her TikTok video.
Even after getting hurt, Grasty had a quick recovery and went back onto the mat to perform her routine. She and the rest of Toxic nailed their routine, and according to FloCheer, they placed sixth in international small coed with a score of 114.7.
Grasty wasn’t the only teammate on the team to get hurt, unfortunately, teammate Jenna Seevers ended up tearing her left achille tendon. Many Toxic fans are wishing her a speedy recovery because she’s not able to cheer because of her injury.
Another very popular team that ended up with a deduction that made them lose their spot was Brandon Black. Their routine was going well until they dropped their prep. The team has been getting a lot of backlash for this because people believe this should be easy to do since they are a level seven team.
There were still some positives to this year. One of the most loved teams in North Carolina,Senior Elite, won senior large finals with a score of 158.95. Senior Elite has been getting a lot of love and support because of how solid their bases are. They have been getting a lot of praise for not dropping a stunt and always having so much energy during their routine.
One of our own FVHS students got the chance to experience going to such a big event. Sophomore Brooke White went with her team named Cobra Coed. This was the first year Cobra Coed has ever made it to Worlds, so it’s a very special event for her and the rest of her teammates. The team placed seventh with a score of 113.3. Everyone was so positive about it because they did well for this to be their first year ever.
“Going to Worlds was really fun. It was very entertaining watching all of the other teams perform their routines, and I enjoyed it a lot,” said White.
White expressed how she really enjoyed watching her host sister win worlds. Her host sister was from Australia and while in America, she was really inspired by White’s cheerleading skills so she made the decision to move to America to try it out for herself.
Even though there were a lot of ups and downs throughout the competitions, all of the teams did really well and gave it their all. If you would like an overview of how everyone did, check out FloCheer for more information.
