It'll be a busy weekend for Morinville Community High School.
The ASAA and ACA provincial cheer championships will be held at the school on Friday (Apr. 14) and Saturday (Apr. 15).
"We have 13 teams competing in the high school event for the ASAA cheerleading champions," said Amanda Bulger, a teacher at the school and chair of the tournaments. "We have 23 elementary and junior high teams competing in the ACA cheerleading championships."
"We got almost 200 athletes in the high school competition, and I think we are at about 350 [athletes] for the elementary and junior high."
This is a big event for the school to be hosting and one that Bulger has been dreaming of hosting for a long time.
"It has been so exciting," said Bulger. "I have had amazing support from staff, parents, and the community!"
"Many hands make light work, so it's been a really great experience."
Apart from being the chair of the event, Bulger also coaches the high school's cheer team, who is eager to compete on the provincial stage in their own school.
"The girls have been working extremely hard," said Bulger. "I've got 18 very hardworking and dedicated young ladies that are ready to show Morinville what they have this weekend."
The team will be competing in both the gameday division and the advanced all-girls division.
The gameday division focuses on the team's ability to lead the crowd at a sports game, while the all-girl division is more concerned with the technical ability of a team to follow a routine and pull off some of the more complicated stunts.
People will be able to buy tickets for the event. There will be three events that will need tickets, attending just one will cost $15, two events will be $25, and a weekend pass for all three events will run about $35.
"If you have never experienced a cheer competition before it is a unique experience that I think everyone should experience once in their lifetime," said Bulger.
More information on the competition can be found here.