Local cheer squad brings home national title

A local cheer team that fought its way through the COVID-19 pandemic to earn a spot in the All Star World Championships has brought a national championship back to Maricopa.

The squad from Rockstar Cheer, appropriately named “Journey,” took the national title in the Senior Level 3 co-ed division for ages 12-18. The event was held in early May in Orlando.

The 19 members of the “Journey” national championship squad were coached by Rockstar co-owners Beth Mundell and Jam Davis.

With COVID closures and physical distancing restrictions leading up to the event, the team was forced to train and practice via Zoom, according to Mundell, who noted that made it extremely difficult to replicate the energy of being together.

“It was different,” Mundell said. “The vibe and energy of being together in person is different. So, when we got back together, all the coaches did a ton of team building with the kids. They were SO excited to be together.”

In addition to the “Journey” squad, two other Rockstar teams reached the finals. “Radiohead” finished 10^th of more than 60 teams in Junior Level 2 (ages 8-15) and “Little Mix” placed 8^th nationally in a field of 40 teams in the Mini Level 1 category for ages 6-9. All three teams were national finalists.

Mundell, who has served off-and-on as cheer coach and adviser at Maricopa High School, said two of Rockstar’s three teams invited to Orlando – Journey and Radiohead – received “full paid bids” that included free entry to the competition as well as three-day park-hopper passes to Disney World.

According to Mundell, only about 8% of teams earns an invitation to nationals. This was Rockstar’s first bid to that national competition. In the three previous years, the competed at the Summit Cheer nationals, finishing 35^th, 17^th and 12^th, respectively.

Journey was also crowned overall grand champions in December at e-Cheer – a live broadcast virtual event held at Rockstar Cheer’s gym at 12501 N. Murphy Road in the Ak-Chin Indian Community. The e-Cheer victory led to the paid bid to the All Star Worlds.

“This is the Super Bowl of cheer,” Mundell said. “Just getting there alone is impressive. It took us 10 years in business to get there, so it was a long trip in more ways than one.”

Mundell added that four members of the championship team were graduating seniors, and winning the title was a fitting end for them.

“This is the first time we’ve won a competition at this level,” she said. “A lot of those kids who went to nationals have been with us for years. It was wonderful to see them get this kind of reward for all of their hard work.”