WE GOT A FINALS BID! I AM SO HAPPY!

He said

This week was another much easier one for us after the hectic last four of Cheer Comps and sickness. Danielle, the last to get the cold, was knee deep in it this week, and it just doesn’t seem to want to go away. I started with literally 24 hours of not feeling great about four weeks ago and it was quickly gone. Emelia was the next to get it, but assuming it was something different as it hit her much deeper and harder for a good couple of weeks and then it sunk itself into Danielle thereafter. It’s taken her the better part of two and half weeks to make some positive headway with it and that only started for her in the last few days.

The only reason I don’t think I got it anywhere near as bad as they did, is I have been able to get back outside for riding and while riding I am able to routinely and often empty my sinus roadside while riding with ‘farmer snots‘ which thankfully Danielle and Emelia don’t do in the house. And that riding, fresh air and sweating it out allowed me to work whatever might be in my system through it much faster. I have found a new route to ride that takes me out 10 kilometres north of city out onto rural roads and farmland. After a hard winter which included being cooped up from basically the start of January to now, it has been an absolute dream to get back outside in fresh air and sunshine these last two weeks!

After missing out on the last batch of Finals bids given out at Battle at the Border/Border Showdown a few weekends ago Emelia had made her peace that it was not in the cards for them this season and of course started thinking about her next season plan and what might yield her the best opportunity its to go out in her last season on that high. Since making the jump from competitive gymnastics five season ago and over to cheer, her dream has been securing a bid and getting to compete in the Cheer Nationals Finals. She has gone to Nationals every year, but the Finals are by bid and invitation only–you earn your spot in that space.

For four seasons it has been close but her teams haven’t made the cut. This year, she felt was her best chance and Sov had been performing better and better giving themselves every opportunity. But at the Battle at the Border/Border Showdown weekend – where they felt they had their best and last chance – they came home empty handed. There was one last opportunity in the Wild Card Bids, but Emelia had all but assumed they were not going to get it. Those would be announced this week on Tuesday.

Ever the Cheer Mom, Danielle was glued to the Canadian Cheer social feeds—the first batch of announcements came out and Danielle assumed that was it and Sov was not in there. However, about ten minutes after texting Emelia who was at work the news to let her know, she got a text from one of the other Cheer Moms letting her know Sov was selected! Turns out Danielle was relying on instagram for the updates and they were delayed —both Mom and daughter were over the moon! So that means that we need to plan for an extra day down in Niagara Falls for Nationals, but all for good! We’re so happy that Emelia can rationalize this dream of hers that has been there since her first season.

She said

This week for Emelia was a bit on the lighter side, she was out for school for March Break and on a break from cheer training. With a lot of her friends away this week and not a ton of shifts at work we figured we would be hearing a lot from her that she was bored. I did get a few of those but in spite of a good chunk of her friends being away Emelia was busy most of the week. She was able to spend some one on one time with her friend Cheyenne. The girls have been close since grade 9 and have stayed that way ever since. She and Chey had a few overnights and by all accounts had a great time. Emelia also crashed out at her bestie Bri’s place with her friends Liv, Shai and Bri. The girls had a blast and got very little sleep but lots of memories. As we moved into the weekend Emelia and Bri had managed to have a very full Saturday night and two parties for St. Pat’s. The girls started out at their friend Ashlyn’s house for a party with a ton of their friends from school, after a few hours the girls were off to a second party with Bri’s older sister and her close friends to a party with Western students. Emelia had the best time and even got to see some of her close friends who are already off to Western this year.

So that was her social life, now on to the biggest news of the week. As John spoke about there was a HUGE and somewhat unexpected announcement this week. After the girls did not quality for a bid at the showdown competition the coaches had prepped them that a wildcard bid was a long shot. Some of the girls and the athletes held on to hope, I honestly didn’t think it would happen. Getting a wildcard bid is REALLY hard. Almost harder than an actual competition. From what Emelia has told me they have a panel that looks at ALL the teams at her level that have gone to any qualifying competition and then takes their choices and looks at all the select teams and look at all their performances. Out of all those options they pick a few wildcard teams. Canadian Cheer had posted on instagram that they would be announcing the wildcard bids on Tuesday at 6:00. At 6:00 I logged into instagram and Canadian Cheer dropped a few teams and then the posts stopped. I looked at the teams and there were none announced from CheerStrike so no Sov. Emelia was at work and I texted her and said sorry it looks like Sov didn’t get a bid. A few moments later I get a frantic message from one of the other moms saying that Canadian Cheer was lagging posting on Instagram but were posting on Facebook and Sov and another team from CheerStrike got a bid!!! A fast second text went to Emelia with the exciting news.

Emelia was over the moon excited but sad that this is how she found out, the girls didn’t get a chance to experience that moment together and she found out while she was at a shift at work. But in the end she was so excited. Since her first year in cheer this invite was a goal. Unlike Canadian Nationals this event within Nationals is an invite only competition. This is advertised by Canadian Cheer as the best of the best in Canada! So getting this invite is no small feat and we could not be prouder of Emelia, her coaches and her entire team. Five years of hard work has brought her to this moment. The coaches, owners, athletes and parents are so proud. CheerStike itself has 6 finals bids which is the best of any location in Canada! Now the real hard work begins, getting ready not only for finals but for Nationals. The coaches are working on tweaking and protecting the routine to ensure they have maxed out their difficulty and ensure their execution of those skills is sharp and perfect!