Mater Dei Cheerleaders Win 5th National Title

SANTA ANA —  Five years. Five trips to Dallas. Five first-place finishes at the National Cheerleaders Assn.’s National Championships.

You’d think members of the Mater Dei High School coed cheerleading team would be used to it by now.

Nope.

“You never get used to winning,” Irazmi Perez, 17, a senior cheerleader captain, said Tuesday just hours after returning from the weekend’s competition in which the team tumbled to first place past a squad from Humble High School of Humble, Texas.

The competition is one of at least five held each year across the country. Most, including the competition in Dallas, are organized by companies that market to the cheerleading world. The national championship, for example, is run by the privately held National Sport Group Ltd. of Dallas, which records sales of about $50 million a year in cheerleading and dance outfits, according to Ward’s Business Directory.

But business is the last thing the cheerleaders have on their minds during the competition season, from early December through March.

“The cheerleading is not what we remember from when we were in school, when they had pompons and looked cute,” said John Shea of Huntington Beach, whose daughter, Diana Shea, is a member of the championship team. “They do back handsprings, aerials. It’s very, very gymnastic.”

Last weekend, about 300 teams from as far as Chile competed in 15 categories ranging from individual honors to best varsity effort from large schools. Mater Dei’s first-place finish came in the “large coed” category.

Only eight of Mater Dei’s 22-member squad have experience from previous championship finals, Perez said. “It’s still a struggle every year to get there.”

The current team came together in May and practiced through the summer. Sessions began in earnest this fall with five weekly practices. Since early November, the team has practiced about three hours a day, except for days when it performed at football or basketball games. Members also squeeze in gymnastics classes.

It makes for a hectic schedule.

“The day of our last football game was the day of our first competition,” Perez said. “And we started cheering basketball before football was even over.”

The squad also plans to compete in California-based championships.

The team practices at the private Catholic school, either on grass or asphalt, and also recently rented out space in a gymnastic studio.

There’s more than fame and glory involved. For Diana Shea, cheerleading brings a deep sense of satisfaction.

“To be in front of the crowd and to feel all your spirit at games and rallies is a thrill,” said Diana, 16, a junior. “Coming together as a squad is really great when we compete. We work so hard. All we wanted was this [championship].

“We got what we worked so hard for.”