They stood in a circle, heads bowed and hands intertwined, blocking out the noise echoing through the arena. 52 teams had competed in their division, but only 25 would hear their names called and advance to the next round. For the first time in school history, the Woodlands High School cheerleaders were one of them.
“We were overwhelmed with excitement, and we weren’t really expecting to make it that far,” Naomi Jones said.
Before this moment, the cheerleaders only competed in UIL (University Interscholastic League) state competition, but this year they decided they wanted to leave their mark on a national stage. For them, competing at the UCA (Universal Cheerleaders Association) National School Spirit Championship wasn’t just a trip to Orlando, Florida, but a challenge to prove themselves while transitioning into national contenders.
“If you aren’t being pushed, you aren’t growing,” Coach Frank said. “Practice determines performance. If you don’t put in the work, it won’t show up when it matters.”
The “work” Coach Frank spoke of began long before they headed to Florida. While most programs end their competitive season in January, the cheerleaders committed to a marathon that started with March tryouts and stretched nearly a full year. To bridge the gap between being a state-level team and a national one, the squad underwent a demanding transformation.
The numbers alone tell a story of their dedication: learning and teaching choreography in the August heat, captains spending hours of their own time reviewing film, and a staggering 79 full-out run-throughs in just one month.
“Skill-wise, we did it so many times we couldn’t do it wrong,” senior captain, Avery Engdahl said. “We never had a season this long before. My role was telling the team to just keep pushing, even when we were tired.”
Along with their grueling training, their mental state was also put under strain. Just weeks before traveling to Orlando, the team faced setbacks at the UIL state competition, where they placed 15th. In a sport where confidence is as important as the stunts themselves, their lower-than-expected ranking could have been a deterrent. Instead, it became a catalyst for their national breakthrough.
“At UIL state we got 15th, then getting fifth in the nation was just beyond exciting,” junior Edyn Mann said. “It showed that our hard work actually paid off.”
But as the team moved from the familiar gyms in Texas to the bright stage in Orlando, they began to learn that when competing at a national level, the finish line is often a moving target. After months of practice, the team faced one final test: the ability to change everything in an instant.
Just 30 minutes before the final performance, the team received a set of critiques from judges that demanded immediate changes to their routine. In a sport where muscle memory is built over months, changing a count mid-competition is a high-stakes gamble.
“We decided to turn a different way, clap differently and show our signs at a different time,” Engdahl said.
Suddenly, the pressure fell on the athletes to ensure they executed these blink-and-you-miss-it adjustments behind the curtain of the final stage. For coach Frank, this moment was the ultimate proof of the team’s evolution.
“You have to pick athletes who adapt to change well,” Frank said. “Sometimes you’re making changes five minutes before you go on.”
That adaptability was the final piece they needed. When the cheerleaders finally took the mat, months of muscle memory and last-minute adjustments formed a seamless performance. The risk of their last-minute changes vanished as the routine hit, elevating the team to a fifth place finish overall in the Super Varsity Tumbling Division I — Game Day Division.
For a program making its national debut, the jump from 15th in the state to fifth in the nation validated the demands of their season. The team knew they had achieved their goal of proving they belonged, and that the foundation they built would not be shaken by last-minute nerves or the bright lights of Orlando.
“They did it with grace. Even with the pressure of competing at the national championship for the first time, this group stayed focused, supported each other and proved they belonged on that stage,” Harbin said.
But as the beat of the music faded and only the echoes of their voices remained in the gym, the team’s adrenaline was replaced with a sudden sense of finality. For the seniors who anchored the program through its most demanding year, their victory was inseparable from the reality that their season had come to a close.
“Walking off the mat for the last time, knowing I would never compete with my best friends again, was very bittersweet,” senior Hadley Morgan said.
With that ending came the realization of how much the program had truly changed. The journey from strictly game-day cheerleaders to national contenders required the squad to embrace a new kind of pressure. They survived a mid-season injury that forced a new flyer into the air just two weeks before the competition in Orlando and reshuffled the entire
mat. It was a process that turned a group of athletes into one unit, where personal pride was traded for the benefit of the routine.
“Early on, people would get upset if they were moved around,” senior captain Sophi Vezza said. “By the end, everyone understood we were doing it to win as a team, so everything became much more team-focused.”
Now, the fifth place trophy returns to The Woodlands and it is more than a symbol of victory. It sets a new standard for the program. While the 2026 squad will be remembered as the first to compete at the UCA National Championship, its real legacy is the blueprint it leaves behind for the underclassmen now following in its footsteps.
“I think this will be remembered as the starting point when we chose to build a more competitive path,” Frank said. “It’s where we decided to build something bigger.”
