- April 23, 2024
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The Flagler Palm Coast High School cheerleaders won the FHSAA Region 2 championship in the small non-tumbling division. Matanzas High earned third.
Flagler Palm Coast High School took first place Saturday, Jan. 7, in the small non-tumbling division of the Florida High School Athletics Association competitive cheerleading Region 2 championship, held at FPC.
“It feels awesome,” said FPC coach Stacia Collier, of the win. “We overcame some adversity. We had an injury this week and had to rework some things, and we were nervous about that.”
Despite a fall in their routine, the difficulty of the Bulldog cheerleaders’ routine was enough to win them the title for the second year in a row.
The Matanzas High School cheer squad also performed well, taking third place in the same division.
“This is the best I’ve ever seen them do,” Matanzas coach Kellie Doucette said of her team, which consists of mostly sophomores. “All through practice and warm-ups, something always fell.”
Almost 70 teams visited Flagler County for the competition, which was held at FPC for the second year in a row.
“It’s awesome that we get to show the Central Florida area what a great facility we have and what a great school we have. I like representing us well,” Collier said.
In addition to showing off the facilities, hosting the competition means a lot of dollars for the Bulldogs cheer program. As a non-revenue sport, one that doesn’t have ticket sales, that is important, Collier said.
Even without placing in the competition, both teams would earn the right to advance to the state championships.
“Because competitive cheer is still relatively new compared to all the other sports, they’re still tweaking things,” Doucette explained. “Right now, all we have to do is show up to this competition. … We’re hoping that as the years progress, you will have to place in the top three to go to states. Right now, there is no payoff, it’s sort of just bragging rights.”
FPC and Matanzas will both compete Feb. 2, in Kissimmee.
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