Reach the Beach Cheer

by Aleya Johnson

In Ocean City, Maryland American Cheer & Dance Academy Reach the Beach Nationals, took place March 25th-27th.

Over 600 teams traveled across the East Coast to compete in this competition to then further go to the Cheerleading Worlds, which is an annual international championship event for competitive cheerleading, that takes place April 23rd-25th in Orlando, Florida. This competition is held at ESPN Walt Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in downtown Orlando.

Recent placeholders of the Reach the Beach Nationals.

At this competition, the teams that are invited are elite teams in the East Coast area that have high scores and unique routines. It varies from preschool girls to high school girls that compete on each individual team. The teams that place will be awarded bids to the Cheerleading Worlds 2022 and other end of season events.

At this competition, Reach the Beach awarded bids for the Cheerleading Worlds 2022 2 paid bids, 6 at large bids and a bid declaration. The submit end of season event Reach the Beach offered 3 full paid bids, 5 at large bids, and 4 IASF at large bids. The D2 Summit Reach the Beach offered 3 paid bids and 5 at large bids. To further explain what bids are, they are invitations to compete in a competition and must be earned through competing at an event that offers them. There are around 120+ event producers who offer bids to both The Cheerleading Worlds and The Summit. A team cannot compete at either competition without earning a bid. If you do not receive a bid then you cannot move forward in the process and will not be invited to The Cheerleading Worlds and The Summit.

The health and safety of the cheerleaders, coaches, parents, and staff is extremely important especially since COVID-19 is still very much real. In order to make sure everyone is safe Varsity makes sure to follow all COVID-19 protocols like making sure everyone wears a mask, all stations and mats are sanitized after each performance, hand sanitizers are easily accessible, and social distancing is enforced. In order to make sure social distancing is enforced all seats are spaced out and 1 mat is placed in each room so there are not too many teams in a room.

After reviewing and watching the team the predictions of the teams that will further move on and place at Worlds are as follows; Cheer Athletics, ACE Athletics, Maryland Twisters, Cheer Extreme, Stingray All-Stars, East Celebrity Elite. These teams at this competition showed out the most and placed the highest the entire competition. Because of their outstanding performances this why they will move on and fight for the #1 spot at Worlds. The dates of the competition are April 23-25th in Orlando, Florida and there will definitely be some tough competition at this tournament. The cheerleaders are competing for a gold, silver, bronze medal and we can't wait to see who will fill those 3 spots at the 2022 Worlds Competition.