A local cheer team’s journey to the world stage

A small town cheerleading team from Sandpoint has earned a bid to compete at the All Stars World Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Florida.

SAGA Competitive Cheer, a team formed just months ago, shows the testament of hard work and determination.

“We are fundraising hard, practicing hard and are getting ready to go to Florida at one of the world’s most prestigious athletic events – the World Cheerleading Championships,” coach Jessica Edmondson said.

SAGA Competitive Cheer was created to fill a need in the Sandpoint community, Edmondson said.

“We saw that there were students who were passionate about cheerleading, but had to travel long distances to other gyms to compete,” she said. “We wanted to create a space where local kids could train, compete and grow as athletes in a supportive environment.”

The program was founded in October by Edmondson, a coach with over 25 years of experience in cheerleading, and Taylor McDonald, the owner of SAGA Gymnastics in Sandpoint. With a shared goal of creating a competitive cheerleading team for local students, they worked quickly to develop the program, choosing to forgo traditional tryouts to ensure that every athlete who wanted to participate could join a team.

Edmondson said there are no tryouts.

“Instead, there are different levels and everyone has a chance to compete against athletes who have the same ability,” she said.

In competitions leading up to the world championship, audiences took notice of the SAGA teams.

“One of the best parts for me was when the judges commented that they saw and heard apparently not only from the staff in the competition area but around the whole venue, that they saw multiple acts of my athletes being really friendly to other teams, going out and supporting other teams and cheering on other teams,” Edmondson said.

Donna Tutin, a Sandpoint High School junior who will be competing in Orlando with SAGA’s senior Stags team, said she is excited for the opportunity to go.

“I was not expecting this as it is our first year as a program,” she said.

Tutin said her team has been putting in more practice hours ahead of the competition, and 14 peers will be joining her.

“I think the most exciting part for me will be definitely seeing all of the other teams that are competing in this competition,” Tutin said, “and I have been watching many teams over social media for several years, so it’s just going to be surreal to be able to see them perform.”

The team competes Tuesday and Wednesday in Orlando.

“Our goal is to keep building this program and providing more opportunities for athletes in our community,” Jessica said.

To offer support, visit www.sagagymnastics.org or follow on Facebook at SAGA Gymnastics/Saga Competitive Cheer.