Kotz takes cheers to the topPublished on February 25th, 2010 By ALASKA NEWSPAPERS STAFF
Kotzebue cheerleaders pose with their first place trophy at the Top of the World Cheer and Dance Competition in Anchorage on Feb. 13. (Courtesy Photo, Tiffany Scott) The Kotzebue cheerleading team won first place in the non-mount category of the Top of the World cheerleading competition in Anchorage on Feb. 13. The fact that the team even went to Anchorage was something of a surprise. Varsity cheerleading coach Tiffany Sheldon said that they had hoped to attend the Region 1 Cheerleading Competition in Unalaska this March but had to cancel because of the high cost of traveling to the Aleutians. So with only 12 days to raise funds and prepare, the team set their sights on the Anchorage meet. Two choreographers from the Denali Cheer Program created a routine and flew to Kotzebue the week before the competition to teach it to the squad. Sheldon said that after three days of meeting and revisiting the local organizations, the Northwest Arctic Borough, NANA Regional Corp., Maniilaq Association, Kotzebue Volunteer Fire Department, Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corp., Native Village of Kotzebue and OTZ Telephone came together to donate nine round-trip mileage tickets and $4,700 in cash for the trip. In an area where cheerleading is not a primary sport, Sheldon said that the local organizations were excited to give their support to a program that has, historically, never attempted to participate in competitions such as the Top of the World Cheer and Dance Championships. "Our local organizations were excited to see that we want to take our program to the next level," Sheldon said. Alaska Newspapers Staff can be reached at editor@alaskanewspapers.com |
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The Arctic Sounder is a publication of Alaska Newspapers, Inc. This article is © 2010 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Newspapers, Inc. makes no provisions for further distribution.