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By LAUREN SEXTON | Sports Reporter

BIRMINGHAM – During the fall season, the cheerleaders in Shelby County were not just practicing to cheer on their school under the lights on Friday nights. On Monday, Dec. 5, several teams competed in the State Competition for the 6A and 7A Cheer divisions at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

To qualify for the State Competition, each team had to make a qualifying score at the Central Regional Competition which was held in early November. To qualify for the State Competition, teams had to receive a score of at least 70 percent on the score sheet or finish first or second in their division.

Spain Park, Chelsea, Oak Mountain, Thompson, Pelham, Briarwood, Calera and Helena all competed in the Game Day format for Regionals and Finals. This event was a mix of band chant, a situational sideline led by a cue from the announcer that moves into the crowd-leading section and ends with the school’s fight song. Teams were permitted to use materials to execute their game day environment at their school. Each routine was limited to a three-minute maximum.

Based on the official AHSAA scoring sheet teams had to complete the following to receive their state ranking, situational sideline, crowd-leading cheer, overall impression, band chant, fight song and the overall impression of the team. This judged teams on techniques, sharpness and placement, proper use of signs, pom, megaphones and flags, stability, synchronization, spacing and so on.

In the 6A division for the Game Day event over 25 schools competed. Calera finished second overall in the state. Briarwood, Pelham and Helena placed within the top 20. Briarwood placed 10th, Pelham came in 13th and Helena finished 19th.

Thompson, Oak Mountain, Chelsea and Spain Park finished in the top 15 in the state. Spain Park came in fourth place overall. Chelsea finished in 10th place, while Oak Mountain followed in 11th place. Thompson placed 13th overall.

Spain Park and Chelsea finished in the top 10 in the Varsity cheer portion of the competition. The Varsity portion of the State competition is a separate event from Game Day. The event judges teams based on running group tumbling, dancing, techniques, execution and choreography to name a few. The Spain Park Jaguars placed second overall, and the Chelsea Hornets came in ninth place.

With football season coming to an end, the cheerleading teams cheer on basketball and prepare for future competitions such as the UCA International All-Star Championship held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida this upcoming spring.