Cheerleaders to compete at world championship
Hill Country Stars Cheer and Dance is sending its four-person cheer squad to the senior open pom division at the All-Star World Championships at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, on April 21-23.
Team members Laramie McIntire, aged 14 of Granite Shoals, Alyssa Tamaseu, aged 20 of Marble Falls, Morgan Burke, aged 17 of Marble Falls, and Haley Booe, aged 24 of Granite Shoals, accepted the invitation from representatives, who saw the quartet compete at Six Flags March 5.
The four are taking donations to help pay for the trip. Go here to make a donation.
“You can’t attend unless you’ve been invited,” said Tamaseu, who also serves as an assistant coach. “Some support from our community would be awesome. We have worked really hard. We’ve put in blood, sweat and tears inside and outside of practice. This is every cheerleader’s dream to go and do this. Any money you donate, you’re doing so much more. We’re all grateful for anything.”
To prepare, the cheerleaders are practicing for six hours a week together in a rented gym at a church and then work on their own. The routines include dance, stunts, running tumbling and standing tumbling.
Cheerleading is more than a sport for Tamaseu; it has given her a family. She lost her mother at age 6 and her father a decade later. Her cheer coach, Debra McIntire, became a mother figure and the other cheerleaders are more like siblings. They gave her an activity she loves and helped her develop some social skills.
“I was super reserved outside of cheerleading,” Tamaseu said. “The second I got to cheerleading, my personality came out. I was able to compete around Texas and make those memories with my best friends. Cheerleading is more than a sport. You have so much fun; it’s almost like therapy.”
She noted that she and Booe “have known each other for years.”
Tamaseu will put down her pom poms in a few weeks to pursue a degree to go into law enforcement.
“I want to work for the Burnet County Sheriff’s Department,” she said. “I want to be a patrol officer.”
