Pictured bottom row (l-r), Jenessa, Reagan, Sabrina, and Bridget; top row (l-r), Julia, Alexa, Maily, and Destinie. When they started, some of the girls were not able to perform cartwheels, they are now executing back hand springs and cartwheels.
By Brian Hews
The La Mirada Matadors Cheer Team, part of La Mirada Pop Warner, recently placed 2nd out of 92 teams in a recent Orange County cheer competition.
The 2017 OEC Cheer Competition was held Oct. 22 at the Bren Events Center on the campus of UC Irvine.
The team is now on their way to a regional competition with an eye on the Florida Cheer Nationals Competition in December to compete against the top teams in the nation.
This is the first time in years that a La Mirada cheer team has made it this far in the competition which is considered intermediate.
The team includes eight hard working nine and ten year old girls who are all residents of La Mirada. Some of the girls were not able to perform cartwheels at the beginning are now are executing back hand springs.
The team practices outside so injuries are part of the process as is the weather.
But as hard as it is to practice, it is much harder financially to get to the finals in Florida.
The team is in the middle of a campaign to raise money to travel to Florida starting a gofundme page titled La Mirada Cheer.
The team is asking for area resident’s help in raising $6,000 to travel to Florida and represent La Mirada.
Anyone interested can go to their gofundme page, La Mirada Cheer, and donate.