Team ParaCheer GB Training Begins!

Our first session marked a new beginning, the first opportunity for athletes and coaches to come together under the Team ParaCheer GB banner. The room was filled with a mixture of excitement, curiosity, and a healthy dose of nerves. Most participants are long-time cheerleaders who have been participating in the Adaptive Abilities divisions for many years,  but many of them hadn’t been in a room which was 100% disabled athletes before and it’s a very different atmosphere because of that.

The focus that day wasn’t on perfecting stunts or learning choreography, but rather on connection. We spent time warming up, moving, and communicating openly about each person’s needs and adaptations. There was a shared sense of discovery, what does balance feel like when the base moves differently, how do multiple bases in wheelchairs fit together to be close enough to stunt, or how do we cue a transition when not everyone can hear or see it the same way? The answers came, through laughter, trial and error, and patient listening.

As one of our posts put it, it was “another ParaCheer first.” The importance of that first step can’t be overstated. Session 1 wasn’t about getting everything right; it was about creating the kind of safe, open environment where everyone could try.

By the second session, the tone had already shifted. The initial hesitancy had started to give way to a stronger sense of confidence and curiosity. The session built on the foundation we’d set earlier; more structured warm-ups, an introduction to strength and conditioning with coach Luce, and the introduction of basic stunts.

We had more participants with us on day two, the nature of the beast especially as we’re bringing in participants from many teams is that scheduling to have everyone in the room is a bigger challenge. Coaches Chantal and Luce got creative with stunting drills to help build timing and a unified understanding of how we’ll act as a team and some early options for choreography started to show up in the play.

We also noticed a cultural shift beginning to take hold. There was more laughter in the room, more encouragement exchanged between athletes. The idea of Team ParaCheer GB was becoming real and the ethos of unified support and mutual understanding was taking hold. We’re working towards the routine hitting elite Intermediate skills as a good safe starting place as to progress safely we need to build strong foundations under these new adaptations and the new shift in dynamic with so many different impairments on the mat together. We feel that for this early showcase, like a decade ago when we first brought adaptive abilities to the world stage, it’s more about demonstrating clean and solid choreography that holds true to the nature of cheerleading as a sport than demonstrating the most difficult stunts possible and pushing the groups beyond what might be safe.

The third session was a couple of weeks later, and again had more participants than before, but still with room to grow. The difference was undeniable, the group that gathered looked and felt more like a team. There was more rhythm, more communication, and an infectious sense of joy that filled the room from start to finish.

On social media, we described it as “another great training session with our still-growing Team ParaCheer GB,” and that’s exactly what it was. New athletes continued to join, blending seamlessly with returning team members, and the sense of community grows stronger each time. We opened with a deep dive conversation about what Classification may look like and how we plan to build throughout the season. Although the ICU showcase is our first goal it’s not the end of the road but just the beginning for this project. Getting participants with paralympic eligible impairments means pulling a select few from the wider catchment that the adaptive abilities divisions have, because they don’t have the stringent eligibility criteria and rightly so, so we see this team continuing as a yearly programme, building our athletes skillset up and developing them as individuals so that we are ready with a world class programme when Cheerleading eventually gets the Paralympic recognition we hope for under the ICU. The work itself became more focused too. We introduced more structured drills, refined timing and transitions, and even began to explore elements of choreography, we have a really fun picture moment for one of our pyramid sections and we can’t wait to see it come to life when we can fill all the final roles we’re missing.

Reflections & What Comes Next

Looking back over these few sessions, a few things stand out. The enthusiasm that fills the space each time we train is extraordinary, every athlete, coach, and volunteer brings an energy that reminds us why this project matters, that we’re here for more than just a performance, but to make history. The adaptability and creativity being developed week by week and the resilience the participants are showing in the way they keep trying if things don’t go right the first time is extraordinary. From finding new ways to grip or create platforms for our flyers, to testing different configurations of stunts, the process is constantly evolving.

Of course, there are challenges too. Managing the balance between excitement and safety takes ongoing care. We’re learning how to progress at a sustainable pace, ensuring that each athlete feels supported while still being challenged. Attendance and consistency are also things we’re working on building a national-level team takes commitment, and we’re finding ways to help every member feel connected even when life outside training gets busy.

As we look ahead to the next phase of training, we’ll be building on these foundations with more defined stunt sequences, early choreography, and a stronger sense of structure in each session. Our goal isn’t just to grow as individual athletes, but to move together as a unit, as a community, as a team that truly embodies the spirit of inclusive sport.

These first three sessions have shown us that this dream is not only possible, but already taking shape before our eyes. Every lift, every laugh, every shared moment of challenge and triumph is proof that the ParaCheer GB journey is well underway.

The path to becoming a Paralympic-eligible cheerleading team will be long and full of learning, but with each session, we’re proving that cheer really is for everyone and that the future of our sport is brighter, stronger, and more inclusive than ever before.