Some Disney Images

 

 

Disneyland!



The entrance to Disneyland... note that the wheelchair is supporting an injury outside of Victoria Cheer!
 

The Swinging Ferris Wheel.  Don't be fooled by its gentle appearance!

Dancing in Car Land! 

 

 

Photo Updates from Competition Day

Thought I'd add a few more shots from the competition for your enjoyment.  These are some individual shots as they were getting ready to compete.

 

 

Stay Tuned... Camera Problem Solved

I have debugged my camera problem and by tonight should have some great (lower resulution) photos.  Yahoo.  Stay tuned...  Meanwhile, here is some morning swim shots from my iPad.

Competition Day

Well done, Coed!  Tenth in this incredible competition!  We are very proud of our team.

The top 6 teams continue tomorrow, and we will have the pleasure of watching them.  For now, the kids are thrilled to have placed as well as they did.  A few 'bobbles' and a pyramid that didn't quite complete.  A warm up tumble.  Despite these, dedication, perseverance and commitment through difficulties, team work and enthusiasm earned the team a place in the top ten Coed Varsity Large Advanced School teams at the USA Spirit Nationals. 

I have some great pictures with my (new) camera... and they are hiding on my laptop here.  For some reason, Blogger will not upload any of them!  I will definitely need some technical help.  After playing around, I have discovered that if I load a picture to Facebook, then save it, Blogger will upload it.  Until this glitch is solved, there will be limited pictures... and be updated later.

You can't imagine the scale of this competition until you are here - it is all school teams, no All Star Clubs... and so each and every performance connects to the athleticism of our athletes.  Of course there are many divisions, however the divisions reflect different stunting rules and team composition and size, not skill levels.  The novice athletes from Norwalk High School, are incredible and we are very much looking forward to their "International PEP Rally on Tuesday!

Day One: Anaheim Coed Cheer Trip

     We are all delighted to be here in the warm and sunny climate of Southern California!  Our flights may have been early (I saw a few stifled yawns this morning as we met at 5 AM) but were smooth... touching down in LA at 2 pm.  NO lost luggage! No flight delays! No snow!  

     Check - in at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel was equally smooth, and we were off to the Convention Centre with no delays.  Our athletes were quite amazed at the size of the venue; it is a full arena with 3 tiers of seating similar and just a bit smaller than Rexall Place.  

There are cheerleaders EVERYWHERE here in Anaheim this weekend!  We watched the competition for quite a while, and Norwalk High School cheerleaders sat with us.  I was very impressed with our team; despite the very long day, they were extremely engaged in the cheering and were cheering the cheers with the teams, even from our third tier seats.  After such a long day and a short night previously, they still had lots of energy.  

     Everyone even kept patient when we arrived at our team dinner destination (one of my all time favourite restaurants, California Pizza Kitchen) to find that another cheer team had taken our 30 seat reservation.  Sigh, it was a long extra hour waiting for enough seats to free up, but well worth the wait!  

     The team walked back to the hotel with coaches and Mr Penner, and I headed to Walmart to buy breakfast groceries.  Around 8 pm there was a small earthquake which we didn't feel at all, but later, 9:30 ish? we had a 5.3 rumble that left us feeling the earth move under our feet.  Everyone was working on their hair and doors were open so all were quickly reassured by very unflappable Mathew Penner and coaches.   Our lights out / room check included procedures to follow if there was another tremble; the geologists say that it is very unlikely.  Just another little adventure and story for the kids. 

     Breakfast is ready for the morning!

     Tomorrow we are up early to see Norwalk compete at 8:30, then a mat practice and some low key cheer shopping.  We will be back at the hotel for naps and then it is competition time!  I will have my (new) camera to take some shots to share.  

     Quite a few of the kids have loaded WhatsAPP to their smart devices.... we will be able to do group texts in the Convention Centre and in Disneyland.  It works far better than regular text messaging for groups... if you add it to your phone, be sure to add my cell to your contacts... 780-239-5979, and let me know, and I can then text you as a group easily.

    FYI, the hotel wifi is not included and so the kids do not have access to it. Otherwise, the hotel is roomy, convenient and seems to be fine!  

   Look forward to comments and hope you follow this blog by putting your email in the top!

Goodnight, and hope you have warmer days ahead too.

    

 

Anaheim Spirit Nationals - Itinerary

Victoria Co-ed Cheer Team
United Spirit Association National Championship
Anaheim, CA
March 28 - April 2, 2014
Friday March 28, 2014
Meet at Edmonton International Airport at 5:00 AM
Depart Edmonton 7:15 am Arrive Vancouver 8:00 AM AC237
Lunch in Airport
Depart Vancouver 10:40 am Arrive Los Angeles 1:31 pm AC552
Pick up at Airport by TCS Transportation Charter Services
1931 North Batavia, Orange, CA
Check in:
ANAHEIM Plaza Hotel
1700 South Harbor Blvd
Anaheim CA
714-772-5900
Walk to Convention Centre
Register for Event Anaheim Convention Centre
Meet with Norwalk Cheer team in Convnetion Centre.

Practice Time to be determined as per schedule
Observation of Competition
6:00 Group Dinner
7:00 Group Meeting, Hair
9:00 Lights out
Saturday, March 29, 2014
7:00 am Rise. Hair
Walk to Convention Centre after breakfast provided by Ms Adamson
Competition Day. Competition, Observation, Practice
Lunch in Convention Centre
4:40 Pictures, mat time, competition
7:00 Team dinner
8:00 Return to Hotel
9:00 Team Meeting
10:00 Lights Out
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Day 2 of competition (if qualified for round 2)
8:00 am Rise. Hair. Breakfast in hotel
9:30 Walk to Convention Centre
Lunch at Convention Centre.
Observation of competitions
(In the event the team does not qualify, the day will be spent observing the final competitions at the convention centre, with no itinerary change.)
5:00 Disney land or California Adventure for Night light show
11:00 Lights out
Monday, March 31, 2014
7:00 am Breakfast in Hotel
8:00 am Disneyland (Walk to Venue)
12:00 noon Lunch in Disneyland
5:30 pm Dinner in Disneyland
10:30 pm Return to hotel
11:00 pm Lights out
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
6:00 AM Breakfast in Hotel
6:45 Charter bus pick up to go to Hollywood Warner Studios VIP Tour
8:15 Tour
10:30 Charter Bus picks us up and takes us to Norwalk High School, 111356 Leffingwell Road, Norwalk, CA 90654
12:00 Pep Rally at School
1:30 Walk to In and Out Burger for team lunch
3:15 pm Walk back to High School, attend joint team cheer practice with Norwalk Cheerleaders
5:30 pm Bus return to Hotel
7:00pm Team Dinner at Disney entrance
9:00 team meeting
10:00 pm Lights out
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
4:30 am Charter Bus to Airport
02Apr Depart Los Angeles 7:00am Arrive Vancouver 9:51 am AC551
02Apr Depart Vancouver 12:15 pm Arrive Edmonton 2:45 pm AC240