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PV cheerleaders headed to nationals

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By Shelley Little | Wednesday, January 30, 2008 | No comments posted

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Pleasant Valley High School cheerleaders have a lot to cheer about lately.

The squad has been hand-picked to perform live on stage with the up-and-coming pop singer Lucy Walsh, daughter of Joe Walsh from the Eagles, during the National High School Cheerleading Championships next week in Orlando, Fla.

The cheerleaders have been working their way to this moment for many dedicated years. Last year, when they attended the cheerleader nationals, they were picked to make a commercial for ESPN and Disney. They also won first place in all divisions this summer at the annual Illinois Universal Cheerleading Association cheer camp. After leaving an impression on the camp director, he called and suggested coach Pam Cinadr that her squad enter a national contest he had found on the varsity.com Web site.

The national contest, sponsored by Secret, asked for a 30-second videoclip based on any segment of the song “Crash” by Lucy Walsh. Cinadr and the squad dove into this project whole-heartedly and sent in their submission before the deadline of Oct. 15.

“Then we waited, and waited some more,” Cinadr said with a sigh.

“It turned out that the deadline had been extended until November because there were so many video submissions,” Cinadr said. She eventually received an e-mail that declared the girls winners of the contest. The squad excitedly extended their dance performance to the full length of the song and has been practicing every chance they get before they leave on Feb. 7 for their live performance with Walsh and her band on Feb. 10 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando. The prize also included a cash award of $5,000.

“The girls used the money to help pay their way to nationals,” Cinadr said.

“Over 25,000 cheerleaders attend nationals; we take over the theme park for an entire two-day event. We will have the parents of all 13 cheerleaders with us this year, and it (the performance) will be televised on ESPN. We are all so proud of the girls,” Cinadr said.

Cinadr said she believes the girls won because they are such an outgoing group of Midwestern girls that any parent could watch and be proud of.

“I am so pumped for this,” Christine Stobaugh, 17, said of the performance. She feels privileged to have been part of the team for all four years of high school is co-captain this year.

“This year is really special because it is my last year,” Stobaugh said. She plans to attend Kirkwood Community College next year and dance on the college team.

“Being part of this squad is like being part of a big family. We practice together for two hours almost daily,” co-captain Liz Coffman, 16, said. She is nervous for their performance at nationals because they all want to do so well— on a personal level and for the team.

Contact the Bettendorf News at (563) 383-2396 or bettnews@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.