Riverside grade 11 student, Jordan Krause, is a high-level competitive cheerleader who recently won the BC Provincial Championships Banner, and the JAMZ National Competition (an American cheer-leading competition) which were held in Las Vegas between February 16 – 21. After her cheer team, the Reign Vancouver All Stars, traveled to Las Vegas for the JAMZ national competition in January, they then went to Victoria for Provincial Championships in March; for both competitions, they returned home undefeated with medals and the banners to prove it.

Cheer-leading is world known sport, often, however, cheer teams are seen as a form of encouragement from the sidelines for sports teams. But there are different levels to cheer-leading, such as recreational, grade school, and competitive teams. The competitive kind that Krause does at the All-Star level is a mix of dance routines and acrobats, with an average of 24 highly skilled cheerleaders on each competitive team. While cheer-leading is a worldwide sport, it is one of the most popular throughout the USA, making the teams there often more experienced and competitive than Canadian teams. Krause’s team, however, changed that perception.
While preparing for the big trip to Vegas for Nationals, the VAS All-Stars prepared intensely for the high level of the event and the subsequent stress that comes with that. Krause wished she knew a few things before going into a USA nationals’ competition. “I wish I knew the amount of people that were going to be there. I knew there were going to be a lot of people, but I did not realize that over 50,000 people would be there,” said Krause. “I have never had that many people watching me for something before; it was scary at first, and I wish I had a better mindset about it so as to enjoy it more.”
Krause also mentioned that her team was nervous about their performance since it was the biggest stage they had been on. Krause added that competing against US teams was intimidating and influenced her teams’ nerves. “It is known that the US teams train so much more than us. We train two days a week, for three hours each. They train a lot, almost every single day; I do not want to say they have better people, but they have more experience and opportunities than we do. They are used to that arena; they are used to those opportunities.” With the quality of the competition, it highlights how well the Canadian team did.
“I do cheer not for the fun of it, but for the feeling.“
Jordan Krause
Regardless of the stress and anxiety regarding US teams and their experience, Krause and her team persevered and put on a winning performance. She commented on how being eligible to go to Nationals motivated her and her team. They did practice runs of the routines daily to prepare for their big performance under the big, bright lights of the Las Vegas All Star gym. The experience of a national competition provided a lot of memories and valuable lessons. “I value a lot of new friendships and key words (Focused, motivated, etc.). There was this hallway with of cheerleader’s thoughts they had before going out on the floor. It was cool to put myself in other people’s shoes. It was a great new opportunity to travel and see how other teams do, and we got to practice in the Las Vegas All Stars gym. They had so many more banners than us for wins, it was interesting to see.”
The Nationals and BC provincial champion has a specific quote she thinks about before stepping out onto the floor. “I do cheer not for the fun of it, but for the feeling,” said Krause. She means that all the nerves hit her before while getting ready, but when she steps onto the floor, all of them blow away during the performance and the only thing on her mind is the lights in the arena show casing the stage. She would like to pass that quote on to all her fellow cheerleaders as it is her quote of choice for motivation before competitions.