This Louisville high school cheer team is headed to nationals. Here's what to know

For the first time in the history of Louisville's Eastern High School, the competitive cheerleading team has won a Kentucky state title. And now the team is heading to the national level to compete.

"To win the state championship is huge," Eastern High School head cheer coach Tyra Anderson told the Courier Journal. "In the state of Kentucky, competition is extremely intense. The moment when we heard our name announced it was something none of us will ever forget."

On Dec. 11, 2021, coach Anderson's team outscored 53 small all-girl squads from across Kentucky at the KHSAA Championship. Pikeville placed second and Bullitt Central third. The Small Division refers to the number of cheerleaders on the team, not the size of the school. As competitors in the Small Division, Eastern was allowed to have no more than 15 athletes on the floor during the competition.

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The next stop for Eastern High School's Kentucky state championship team is the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship held Feb. 11-13 in Orlando, Florida.

Eastern will be joined in Florida by several other Louisville area high school teams who have qualified for the competition including Butler, Male, Assumption, Mercy, Atherton, North Oldham, South Oldham and a number of schools from Bullitt County including, Eastside Middle School, Bullitt East, Bullitt Central and North Bullitt.

Anderson, a former Eastern High School cheerleader, has coached at her alma mater for eight seasons. She describes competitive cheer as a grueling year-round sport that requires a high level of commitment, athleticism, time management and teamwork.

"Competition is like running a two-minute and 30-second sprint, it's super intense," the coach said. "They are in constant motion — tumbling, jumping, building (formations), doing stunts, pyramids and dancing plus they have to incorporate a one-minute call and response cheer. I describe it as the hardest sport in the world."

Besides the Small Division in which Eastern High School competes, other categories at the state level include Medium, Large, Super Large and a co-ed division. The KHSAA has sponsored competitive cheer since 2010.

To qualify for the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships, teams must score a certain amount of points at a regional competition that was held in Kentucky in November 2021.

According to Anderson, Kentucky teams typically are well represented at the national level. Eastern High School has competed in Orlando before, but never as the Kentucky state champion.

"Historically your top team at nationals in the Small Division is from Kentucky," Anderson said. "In the past couple of years, the team that has won the state title has also won at the national level."

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To win, Eastern will have to beat out 105 teams from across the country. The national competition will be streamed live on Varsity TV.

"For the first time in the history of the event, the Small Varsity Division is the largest it has ever been," Anderson said. "That's a lot of pressure but Eastern has definitely put in the work to compete on the highest level. We'll be ready."

Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com or Twitter @kirbylouisville.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville's Eastern High School cheer team makes it to UCA Nationals