Pictured left to right, Ashleigh Mackin, Gabrielle Leiphart, Kayla Harrison, Shannon Moats, Natasha Green, Shelby Dorf, Autumn Hammel, and Madison Elliot perform their stunts in front of the Sovereign Bank Stadium. Photo Submitted by Gabrielle Leiphart.
On Dec. 5, 2013, York Suburban Varsity and Junior Varsity cheerleaders will fly to Orlando, Florida to participate in the Disney Christmas Extravaganza Parade. Both cheerleading teams are staying in Disney for four days.
They earned this opportunity by attending the National Cheerleaders Association’s summer camp at University of Maryland Baltimore County and by winning the Herkie Team Award. Head coach Leslee Yoder said this award was given to them from the staff for having the best sportsmanship, the best leadership, and the best team bonding.
According to Yoder, the girls wills be participating in three rehearsals to prepare for the parade, and will have extra time to themselves to visit the parks.
The cheerleaders, of course, had to do fundraising to pay for this costly trip, so they have bake sales at all the home football games, already had 2 car washes, are currently doing a pasta sale, and are looking into doing a sandwich sale.
Senior Kacey Hunt and sophomore Gabrielle Leiphart said the most exciting part about this trip is going to be auditioning for where they’re going to be placed in the lineup for the parade. They also said being on television will also be very nerve wracking.
Both the varsity and junior varsity teams will have to audition for where they will be placed in the Christmas parade, which will be televised. When asked what the hardest part about earning this trip was, Hunt said, “being extremely tired, but knowing to win, you have to work through that had to have been the hardest part.”
To prepare for this trip, a lot of time and dedication is being given by all of the cheerleaders, so that they can be successful on this trip while performing.