Cheerleaders celebrate US competition victory

A group of cheerleaders from North Yorkshire are celebrating victory at a competition in the US.

The East Coast Tigers senior team, from Eastfield near Scarborough, won the Senior Level 1 category at the All Star World Championships in Florida last weekend.

Athletes from both the junior and senior teams travelled to the US for the event, which is their first international competition.

The junior team, which is made up of 12 to 14-year-olds, and senior team, made up of 12 to 18-year-olds, raised £25,000 between them to fund the trip.

Coach Jess Mortimer, who was unable to attend the event because she is expecting a baby, told BBC Radio York it "felt like a win" simply for the 24 cheerleaders to attend.

"Unfortunately, the junior team didn't quite score enough to get to the final stage - the standard is just so high out there," she said.

Ms Mortimer said they had put in an "incredible routine" but it had been a "tough division".

However, the juniors cheered the senior team to victory the following day along with coaches Liv Hall and Chelsea Baxter.

The teams had to perform a two-and-a-half-minute high energy routine during the contest, with a "flyer" thrown into the air.

"We train them to believe they can win, but the look on their faces when they were announced as world champions told me that they didn't really know they would do that," Ms Mortimer said.

"They were crying, there was so much disbelief - it was really nice to see their reaction, to see how grateful and happy they were."