All 16 girls, 1 boy, 2 coaches, and many parents and fans met at Detroit Metro Airport on February 5th, 2003 at 5:30am. All of us checked our bags and waited around for flight 476 from DTW to Orlando, Florida. The team was so excited for this trip because it was our first time to the Universal Cheerleading Associations National High School Cheerleading Championship. The UCA Nationals is the biggest cheerleading competition in the world. The big event was the only thing discussed on the plane. What our coaches had in store for us never crossed our minds.
We heard the flight attendant say “Welcome to Orlando, Florida. Our current landing time is 9:30. For those of you who are visiting, have a great stay. Thank you for flying Northwest Airlines.” The team cheered the news with enthusiasm. We were finally there. This is what we had been waiting for almost all year. After we got off the plane and got our bags, we headed to the UCA shuttle. The shuttle took us to the hotel that would be our home for the next week. Arriving at the Caribbean Beach Resort all of us were flabbergasted. The resort was huge and beautiful. We got to check into our room but we were not allowed to look around yet.
Our coach told us to change into practice clothes and get ready to go the Wide World of Sports arena. We did not know why, but we followed orders. On our way there, our coach told us that the small and large co-ed competitions were to be held in that arena and that we had a scheduled mat time for 11:30. We arrived at the arena and were hurried down a little hallway to an elevator that took us to a backstage warm-up area. The announcer then came on the PA system and said, “Romeo Varsity,” that was our cue that our mat time was about to come up. We went to the on deck area just like we would during the normal competition. The moment we stepped onto that stage, everyone was like “wow.” The WWS arena was better than any of us could have imagined. There were all sorts of lights...