Cheer Life LI Special Report: LICCA Finals Recap

With the season coming to an end, Super Bowl weekend means more than football to Long Island cheerleaders. LICCA varsity finals took place on Saturday at Happaugue High School and Sunday at Suffolk County Community College with over 30 teams who qualified this year. The weekend started on Saturday morning with Medium varsity. 

West Islip started their routine off with standing tumbling followed by 4 low to high heel stretches in their partner stunt. They spelt their cheer with 4 unassisted one men reading W-E-S-T, and different color signs made it unique! Smithtown West stunned us all with their no handed one and a quarter ups that they made look as easy as pie. Their energy throughout the routine was great and their cheer was catchy and fun!

The session ended with the cheerlebrities of Long Island, Rocky Point. While a familiar face at LI Championships, we can't seem to take our eyes off them when they take the mat. 5 unassisted full ups hit along with the rest of their flawless routine. I think what most of us would like to know is how they don't get dizzy by spinning non stop!

Before awards, teams come together to put on a patriotic tribute performance which is always fun to watch. Gina Caputo puts together these performances, and they always turn out great. The sportsmanship award was called out first for West Islip. After that followed the top 5 which were 5-West Islip, 4-Bayshore, 3-Macarther, 2-Smithtown West, and the LI champion-Rocky Point. 

The large varsity division was next consisting of only 8 teams who qualified. Although there were only a few teams competing, it was a fantastic competition full of difficulty and well executed routines. These teams did not let anyone else in their division get past them this season and will continue to hold their own when 7  of them attend this weekends prestigious UCA nationals in Disney. The awards came to 5-Bethpage, 4-Freeport, 3-Plainedge, 2-Kellenburg, Long Island champion in large, Mount Sinai. 

Sunday was our most exciting competition of the weekend at SCCC. Small varsity consisted of 14 qualifying teams all around the same level as eachother.  Spectators and judges came into the competition having no clue who would take home that championship title.  North Babylon hit their stretch to stretches in the partner stunt and clean tumbling throughout. Hauppauge had an injury during warm ups, but they still went out there and did a great job. Shoreham had to stop their routine halfway through but the girls recovered from their mishap and finished their routine strong. Smithtown East had a fall in their partner stunts, but their high to highs looked solid! One of the most unique, and fun routines to watch was Massapequa. Where did they come from?! 

The weekend ended with the LICCA all stars, Act member recognition, patriotic tribute and power four. The sportsmanship award went to Kings Park followed by the top 5 teams with 2 ties in the small division. 5-North Babylon, 4-Wantagh and Hauppauge, 3-Clarke and Comsewogue, 2-Massapequa, and the championship went to Smithtown East!

With the LICCA competition season coming to an end, it only means one thing to many of our Long Island teams, NATIONALS! In just a few days, teams will be headed off to warm weather to turn theirs dreams into reality at the most magical place on earth, Disney World. Good luck to all teams competing this weekend and congratulations to all of our Long Island finalists on a great season! 

-Cheer Life Long Island

Follow Them @CheerLifeLI