Lily Saba is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Campo Verde for AZPreps365.com

The Campo Verde cheerleading team is no stranger to competing. Since 2020, the team has held three different championship titles, their last being USA National Champions in 2022-2023.

Ending the 2023-24 competition season, the team unfortunately lost its title coming in as the runners-up is incorrect  at the USA Spirit Nationals. This season, the Campo Verde cheerleaders look to get back its title.

Last year's cheer team consisted of many freshmen, essentially a brand new team. Much different from their national champions team of experienced cheerleaders.

“Last year was a rebuilding year and we were able to achieve USA National runner up,” head coach Christine Shea said. “We only have two new members to our team this year and they are the two freshmen.”

Coach  Shea wants nothing more for her team than to win the national championship and have its hard work pay off.

“Winning a national championship as an athlete for the first time is literally an out of body experience,” Shea said. “You can't describe it, unless you have gone through it.”

The cheerleading team shows off its pyramid during its halftime routine. (Lily Saba photo/AZSports365)

A team of only 10 girls gives everyone room to focus on their skills and difficulty. It also leads to a close-knit team.

“We know we all have each other's back.” said junior Mia Shea.

The team has focused heavily on building their strength in the weightroom, as well as conditioning while saying their competition cheers to build up their stamina.

Many of the girls do not come from a cheerleading background. They have trained hard to be on the team and will do anything to continue improving.

“I would go into tumbling each week to get better so that I could try out for the cheer team,” said freshman Mercedes Plumridge.

The girls are very determined to get back their title, all agreeing to put in long hours of hard work. The returning girls look to build up the freshman's confidence in the sport.

“We have improved so much from last season but there is still more work to do,” said senior Heather French. “This team has a lot of younger girls, so we need to build them up with encouragement and hard practices so that they are prepared.”

It's being comfortable with the uncomfortable. 

Still, building up a young cheerleading team can be tedious and is not without its challenges. The whole team experiences very high highs and extreme low lows.

“No matter how hard it gets, no matter how much you’re in your head, you should never stop believing in yourself and your teammates,” French said.

Most recently, the Campo Verde varsity cheerleading team competed at a United Spirit Association (U.S.A) qualifying event. The team performed a flawless routine, acquiring no deductions. They placed second, missing first by only 0.5 points.

It was good enough to advance onto the U.S.A. Nationals in Anaheim, California in February of 2025.

Now that the girls have qualified for nationals, regaining their title is so close they can feel it. The cheerleaders now are looking forward to another national competition experience and hope their younger teammates will get to experience the feeling of winning a national title.

“These girls, me included, need to feel that feeling,” French said. “Getting what you’ve worked so hard for all season … The blood, sweat, tears. It makes it all worth it."