When the New Iberia Senior High cheerleaders arrived at Walt Disney World for the UCA National Cheerleading Championship, they had no idea they would make it to the finals.

“I was very, very excited. I wasn’t expecting to go past the semifinals, so that night when we were at the prelims and they announced that New Iberia Senior High made it to the semifinals, we were all crying,” said cheer coach Kristian Romero. “On Saturday when they announced that we made it to the finals, we were all in complete shock. It was really exciting and it was a very awesome experience. I’m very proud of them.”

The team began their journey to Florida in August, when the team first started to learn their choreography for the year in a grueling five-hour session.

“We were so nervous when we first started learning the routine,” explained cheer captain Madison Helms. “These very professional people who do this for schools like St. Thomas Moore and other schools that always go to nationals were coming to teach us our routine, so we were intimidated and we couldn’t remember what we were learning.”

Despite having to digest a large amount of information, the cheerleaders took to the routine well, getting better and better with each repetition.

“It was super stressful but fun at the same time because we knew that, as we were getting farther and farther in the routine, we might have a chance at going to the regional competition,” Helms said. “Our goal all year was to go to Nationals, so our hard work definitely paid off.”

After the team learned the choreography, it was time to practice. In addition to gameday practices on Friday nights during football season, the team also practiced three times a week after school and for an hour each day in a special PE class just for cheerleaders.

“We put in a lot of work at practice,” Helms said. “Doing the same thing over and over can be hard and it can be hard to get the team to focus, but that’s what you have to do if you want to make it to that level.”

With the routine learned, it was time for the team to head into the competitions.

Before the Jackets could turn their attention to the national competition, they first had to win a bid at a regional event. Taking part in two events, the New Orleans Regional and the Louisiana State Regional, the well-drilled NISH team received a bid to nationals in each competition.

With their tickets to Disney punched, it was time to get serious about fundraising.

“We did a bunch of fundraisers this year. For nationals we sold a bunch of chocolate as well as a carwash at Get Wet and a WeFund4u account, where we made about $5,000,” explained Romero. “We also did a raffle in which a bunch of local companies donated items so that

everything we made from that was straight profit that went towards the girls for their trip.”

Helms said that the constant fundraising was stressful, not only for the cheerleaders, but also for the parents.

“The fundraising part was very stressful for the parents and us. It was a lot, always one thing after another,” she said.

At the national competition, NISH was placed into the medium gameday non-tumbling division, based on their type of performance and the size of the squad. Competing against 24 other teams, NISH excelled in the opening round of competition and advanced to the semifinals.

Starting in the regional competitions and continuing throughout their time at Disney, the squad was constantly making adjustments and changes to their routine to make it the best it could be.

After the first competition we didn’t get the score that we wanted so we changed some things after that and we scored better in the second competition,” explained Helms. “At nationals we kept tweaking things after seeing what the other teams were doing. We scored higher every time at nationals, we increased every time.”

Heading into the final round of competition, captain Ashlyn Porche said that she had a final message for the squad.

“I’m really proud of my time because we never expected to make it all the way to the finals. Whenever we were backstage I just kept telling the team that as long as we hit the routine I’m going to be proud of them, no matter the outcome,” she explained.

“I kept telling them to make sure they went out there and did their best and to not leave the floor with regret or wishing that they could’ve done something different. They did everything that I asked them to, so placing 7th is a really big accomplishment. I’m so proud.”

When all was said and done, the NISH cheerleaders finished the competition with a 7th place finish, better than anyone could have hoped for when the season began last summer.

“This is the first time that the team has ever attended nationals, so it’s a big accomplishment for the girls,” said Romero.

With their first trip to nationals in the bag, the team is already gearing up for another run. Senior Ashlyn Porche won’t accompany her team as they make another attempt next season, but she has high expectations for what they can accomplish.

“I’m excited to see how the team can continue to progress every year,” she said. “I think that they can get national jackets one year.”