Raiders Go to the Nationals

In December, the Scarsdale High School cheerleaders were dismayed to learn that though they qualified to attend the national tournament in Florida they lacked the funds to go. Undaunted, they raised the money by staging a local tournament, selling ads in the program and food and drink to the audience. With funds in hand, they made plans to join 400 teams from 32 states to attend the championships in Orlando, marking the ninth consecutive year of attendance for Scarsdale.

It turned out the money was just one obstacle they would encounter on their journey to Disneyworld to participate in the 2010 National High School Cheerleading Tournament. A large winter storm virtually closed the East Coast on Wednesday February 10th and threatened to thwart their plans. Scheduled to fly down to Florida on Thursday the team feared their plane would be cancelled due to the storm. Luckily for them their Thursday evening flight took off, though teams from Ursuline and New Rochelle had to drive all the way to Florida due to flight cancellations.

The entire Scarsdale Varsity Squad, their three coaches Stacy Monteiro, Ivy Linares and Danielle Tancredi plus parents and siblings travelled to Orlando to see the team compete on Saturday morning at Disney World’s Indiana Jones Theatre at the Hollywood Studios (formerly known as the MGM Studios.) Temperatures were frigid but it was a thrill for the girls to appear on the enormous stage where they gave a solid performance. Disneyworld was inundated with over 20,000 cheerleaders, and the park was crowded with spirited girls in uniform who were cheering, singing throughout the weekend.

The Raiders stayed at the Disney Caribbean Resort and visited the theme park. The entire group convened for a fun family dinner at the Rain Forest Café on Saturday night and the team watched the final performance on Sunday.

Watch the video of their performance here! Congratulations to the team on another successful trip to the nationals.