PWHS Cheerleaders picked up new skills—and new hardware—at UCA Camp

The Plymouth Whitemarsh High School (PWHS) varsity and junior varsity cheerleading teams kicked off their season with a four-day UCA (Universal Cheerleading Association) Camp in Beach Lake, Pa. They joined more than over 500 cheerleaders from the East Coast, honed their skills, and brought home several awards.

The camp was packed with opportunities to learn new cheers, chants, dances, and routines, along with plenty of team bonding. Before heading to camp, the PWHS program adopted the theme “Why not?” to help stay focused on their goals.

Senior backspot Melina Day explained: "We used our team theme of ‘Why not?’ to motivate ourselves to keep pushing through the challenges camp gave us. Why not keep pushing to do our best and learn new things, even when we were exhausted from the long days? Only good things will come from our hard work."

The teams embraced this theme throughout their time at camp, especially when preparing for their nightly evaluations and competing in their divisions. By Tuesday, the PWHS teams returned home with a collection of awards. The Varsity team clinched 1st place in Camp Routine, while Junior Varsity secured 1st place in Spirit Routine.

The entire PWHS Cheer program earned the Leadership Award, voted on by other teams for showing exceptional support and compassion throughout the camp.

The athletes also had a chance to showcase their individual skills in the camp-wide jump competition, divided by grade levels. Hazel McKenny earned the runner-up title for tenth grade, while Kayla Birkmire won overall among senior participants.

Additionally, ten PWHS cheerleaders achieved the prestigious All-American status, recognizing their outstanding skills, teamwork, leadership, and commitment to their sport:

• Seniors: Alexa Earl, Megan Bergin, Aaliyah Thompkins, Nera Martin, Kayla Birkmire
• Juniors: Daysha Southward, Natalie Krier
• Sophomores: Gianna Jensen, Hazel McKenny
• Freshman: Aubrey Ruth

Alexa Earl and Kayla Birkmire were selected to try out for UCA Staff, and senior Aaliyah Thompkins was honored with the #PinitForward award for her encouragement and leadership. Melina Day and the entire team were also nominated by another #PinitForward recipient.

PWHS Cheer also won the Saint Jude Spirit Stick for submitting the most letters for St. Jude at camp.

The PWHS Cheerleading staff is thrilled to start the season with such impressive accolades.