Southampton Vixens – National Champions!!!

This month has brought the end to the 2010/11 cheerleading season in which the Southampton Vixens have achieved their best results to date. Having revamped their image, the Vixens picked their new squad in October and have been training hard ever since.

This year, the Vixens competed in three different competitions, entering both the all girl level 4 cheer division and the hip hop dance division, earning themselves numerous titles along the way.

Their first competition of the year was the Regional Championships in Guilford where the Vixens competed against other Universities from all over the South. For many of the cheerleaders this was their first competition and was therefore seen as a ‘warm up’ for the rest of the season. However, the Vixens made an exciting entrance by winning both of their divisions by thirty clear points, making their dance squad and their cheer squad the new Regional Champions.

Just two weeks later, the Vixens were back on the competition floor, this time at the Future Cheer competition in Loughborough. Here, teams competed from all over the country and it was important for the Vixens to prove themselves as the best University squad around. This was undoubtedly achieved when the Vixens were announced as the champions of all girl level 4 and in second place in the hip hop division. The competition squad also decided to enter a group of five girls to compete in the group stunt division and they also finished in first place. The competition was fierce but the Vixens were the only team to hit clean routines and thoroughly deserved the three trophies that they took home.

The final competition of the season was also the largest and most important of the year. It was the ICC Nationals held in Birmingham and the Vixens, although fully prepared, did not have high expectations for this competition as they were up against All-Star cheerleading teams as well as Universities from all over the UK.

However, after hearing the results of day one, with both the cheer and dance squad scoring the highest marks in their divisions, the reality hit that the Vixens could once again come away as champions. This put added pressure on the girls as they were desperate to hold their positions in first place throughout day two of competing. The Vixens dealt with it like true professionals and both squads performed the best routines that they had done all season. This reflected in the results with the dance squad finishing in second place and the cheer squad winning the title of National Champions! This was a huge achievement as the standard of competition was even higher than expected and the Vixens were the only University squad to dominate in any division.

This year the Vixens’ training has really paid off earning them five first place trophies and two second place trophies in just three competitions. The Vixens are looking forward to continuing this hard work in order to maintain their success. If you’d like to see the Vixens’ winning routine, consisting of dance, acrobatics and stunts (and no pompoms!) they will be performing at Varsity this Sunday at three o’clock on the 3G pitch and at their Showday on Sunday 8th May.

See the Nationals winning routine here