About the Ascension Eagles who are supported by the Trust
The Trust has been very pleased to offer financial support to this local organisation for girls. The Cheerleaders began in November 1996 as an outreach of Ascension Church Centre, Custom House, Newham. Rev. Jonathan Brice and his wife Shara, initially started the program as a way to keep youth off the streets and engaged in an activity which promotes fitness and social interaction.
Over the past decade, the Cheerleaders have been recognized as one of the UK's most successful youth programs, as well as Britain's best all-round cheer program. They aim to transform and inspire young people to reach their full potential, while providing the highest level of training, coaching and community development work. They seek to make a difference in the lives of young people so they can make a difference to others in their community and in the world.
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Newham Cheer & Dance Showcase
The England team will be performing at the Newham Cheer & Dance Showcase on Saturday, April 5th, 2-4.30pm at ExCeL London in hall N17. Admission to the performance is free and includes demonstrations from the hundreds of cheerleaders who benefit from the coaching sessions run weekly through the team's London Cheerleading Academy outreach. Free cheerleading workshops will be offered on April 7th & 8th, 10.30-12.30, at ExCeL, for ages 8 & up. Ascension Eagles will give a private Showcase for their friends and family on April 6th
afer which the AEC members will zoom over to the O2 where they have been asked to cheer on the final leg of the Olympic flame relay, covered by BBC
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British Open Cheerleading and Dance Championship
The Eagles Senior Coed team returned recently from the 2008 ICC British Open Cheerleading and Dance Championship at Nottingham Arena with another first place trophy to add to their 300+ trophy collection. (ICC = International Cheerleading Coalition)
Soon Ascension's finest will be representing England at the Cheerleading World Championships in Orlando, Florida. Only the top one per cent of cheerleading teams worldwide are invited to compete at the World Championships. The Ascension team has been training and fundraising diligently and welcomed the opportunity to put their skills to the test at the ICC British Open.
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Regional Winter Wonderland Championships
Three bus loads of Newham's Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders (AEC) and their fans travelled to Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre in Middlesex for FutureCheer's Regional Winter Wonderland Championships on 2nd December 2007.
Forty per cent of the Eagles were competing for their first time. This meant that the coaches – all senior members who have grown up with AEC and gained their coaching qualifications – had a tremendous amount of work to do as they prepared their Pee Wee, Youth and Junior teams to compete.
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FutureCheer National Championships
The Ascension Eagles travelled to Brighton on Sunday, 8th July 2007 for the FutureCheer National Championships. Three hundred fans went along to support one hundred Ascension Eagles, who had entered seven routines.
And once again the Eagles cleaned up - for details of their huge success see the full report on their website.
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2007 Cheerleading World Championships
After a long struggle to raise the funds the Eagles finally set off in April for Orlando to represent England at the 2007 Cheerleading World Championships. It ws the culination of a long struggle for funds to pay for the truip.
It was in July 2006 that the Eagles won their bid to represent England at the 2007 Championships. But having looked at their finances the members sadly concluded there was not enough money for them to go. All the available money had been used in going to the 2006 Champoinships.
When Newham’s mayor, Sir Robin Wales, heard that the Eagles could not accept the bid he wanted to help find a way to get them there. FutureCheer had already offered £3500 sponsorship but by the end of the year, in spite of their best efforts, including a Send a Text appeal in which this website participated, the Eagles had still not managed to raise the balance needed. London City Airport and the Royals Business Park had each chipped-in £1000 but no more had been raised.
But then just before Christmas an anonymous donor promised support if more funders would come forward. By January Development Securities and SRB Access to Excellence had pledged support. The Jack Petchey Foundation agreed to match-fund what team members could raise themselves. Event360 also pledged support and Virgin airlines agreed to discount the Orlando flights by ten per cent.
When the Eagles were still short of their goal, Newham Council awarded them a Go For It grant, and NewCeys helped them to achieve a Youth Opportunities grant. This finally tipped the scales and the Eagles were off to Orlando
The Eagles were the very last team to compete at 2007 Worlds and there followed a tense wait in the packed arena. And when the results were finally announced the Eagles were hugely proud to find themselves in the top ten. Last year they were ranked 12th in the World; this year they placed 7th. As the scores were revealed, the Eagles discovered they were less than three points away from 3rd place!
FutureCheer president Andrea Kulberg said, “The competition at Worlds this year was extremely strong. It really took on a whole new level of talent and skill, yet the Ascension Eagles continued to represent the UK with incredible power as they soared to new heights in 2007!
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European Elite Championships
More than 2000 cheerleaders from across Europe competed at the European Elite Championships at Movie World, Bottrop Germany over the Bank Holiday weekend. With over 2000 competitors and over 8000 spectators, Elite Championships are the largest in Europe – and probably the largest outside of the USA .
Three coach loads full of Ascension Eagles and their supporters traveled by EuroTunnel and then through France , Holland and Belgium to reach their German destination. It was the first time Ascension has traveled to Europe to compete since 2001.
In total, AEC competed with 80 cheerleaders in five entries.
AEC Cheer Excel was ranked 11th overall against older youth teams while
AEC Cheer Extreme was ranked 5th out of 19 older teams.
The Junior Coed team won 2nd (Silver) and Senior Coed won 3rd (Bronze). Senior Individual Patrick Asante ranked 3rd out of 17 top European individuals. Both Junior and Senior Coed also received bids to compete at 2008 Cheerleading World Championships.
AEC Director Shara Brice said, “Going to the European Championships was an excellent learning experience. We have ten top AEC coaches – all local youth who've grown up with AEC - who devote themselves to developing our teams. Whenever they take 150 cheerleaders and their families away together, there are always opportunities for character growth and leadership and lifeskills development. Our AEC members and their parents represent Newham and England with excellence, and are always prepared to make the most of any opportunity.”
[More Information]
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To contact the Eagles, and for more information and their latest news visit their website
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Last updated: 19 March 2008
