Universal Cheerleaders Association Nationals is a cheerleading competition held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla. The top high school and college teams from around the country gather to compete to earn the UCA title.

“UCA Nationals is when cheer teams from all over the nation come together at Disney World in Orlando, Florida and compete head to head through a series of different stages: Prelims, Semi-finals and Finals, to see who is the best in the nation,” Makeda Ellis (10) said.

The varsity cheerleading team will be traveling to Orlando, for the first time, on Feb. 9 to compete in this highly-esteemed competition.

“Being a first year team, [the] main goal is to make it through the first day (Semis), and after that Finals. If we focus and try our best, I think we have a great chance of making it through to finals.” Mia Graziani (10) said.

The competition will be full of anticipation and nerves, but lots of excitement overall.

“Since we are going down as rookies, we will definitely feel the pressure, but it should be a great experience. All we can do is take one count at a time and not let the pressure take us over [and] go out and do the best we can absolutely do. If that happens, then we should have the best time and do great,” Ellis said.