SCS cheerleaders win Norfolk Invitational competition

Simcoe Composite School Sabres cheerleaders celebrate their 2025 championship at the Norfolk Invitational Cheerleading Competition in Delhi.

By Chris Abbott

Editor

There was ‘Party rock in the house tonight’ when Simcoe Composite School Sabres cheerleaders won the second annual Norfolk Invitational Cheerleading Competition on May 7.

Hosted by Delhi District Secondary School this year, the four-school competition included full stunt cheerleading with non-twisting tosses, pyramids, cradles, rolls and twists on full mat floors, unlike the Norfolk County Fair Young Canada Day competition, which was downgraded in the fall of 2023 for safety reasons.

“It went great, we had a couple falls but…” said Sabres’ Jorja Mulder, moments after hearing they had won the NICC.

“First run,” SCS teammate Brooklynn Schleifer quickly noted.

“But second run we hit it,” said Mulder.

“Perfect second run,” said Sabres’ Jayden Ponting. “Our pyramid did come down (in the first run)…”

“And threw from there, too,” said Schleifer.

“Which we shouldn’t have,” said Ponting.

Mulder wasn’t sure if the audience noticed the glitch but she was sure coaches and judges did.

“I don’t know, but we like cried after, so I feel like if they looked at our faces, they would be like ‘oh, yeah, something happened,’” said Mulder.

“My family was like ‘what do you mean, you did great!’” Ponting laughed.

“The first run is always nerves,” said SCS Composite coach Tracy Boswell. “Everybody comes out, doesn’t know what’s going to happen… which is kind of nice that we get two. So we had a little talk after. Everybody was shaken up.”

It was an emotional moment, especially for some senior cheerleaders.

“This was their last one, so they were getting a little weepy,” said Boswell. “I am also getting a little weepy, so that’s okay. I think they had a moment to take a breath, realize what they had done and what they can fix – because we’ve been doing this all year long – and really just left it all out there and gave it everything they could… and fixed everything that happened in that first run. So I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

For the audience, it did look great – full of energy. Same with the second routine, which they performed without a hitch.

“Our pyramid, that was really good,” said Schleifer, recalling their flawless second run.

“That’s the one thing we know like has to hit for us to win,” said Mulder. “And it hit. I feel like once we know that we hit that stuff, then we’re set for the rest of the routine. It just brings up our energy… especially after pyramid, it goes straight into our dance.”

“And our dance has so much energy,” said Ponting, “and it just makes it all better.”

The three SCS cheerleaders loved the full indoor stunting.

“It’s so exciting,” said Schleifer. “I love throwing.”

“So much better!” said Mulder.

“It’s amazing,” Ponting agreed.

The Norfolk championship came just weeks after SCS cheerleaders had won gold at their OFSAA Central Region championship.

“This is our senior year and we won both times,” said Mulder.

Valley Heights finished fourth at the Norfolk competition, Delhi third and Waterford, the defending Norfolk Fair and Norfolk Competition champs, was second.

chris@granthaven.com