Youth Cheerleaders Depart for Disney! “We will Succeed because we are Family”

Hopewell’s youth Cheerleaders are headed to Disney World in Orlando Florida!

The girls from four different age groups had a fantastic year cleaning up during the regular season competitively taking home more accolades than ever before! They now depart for Florida where they will compete nationally against schools from around the country.

HSN sat down with Assistant Coach Rayla Neff to get all the details and was provided the below statement thanking all of the Cheer supporters and coaches on a great season:

The biggest thank you to our incredible VP of Cheer-Paige Ellison for starting this amazing journey with our league and giving our hopewell youth cheerleading squads the opportunity to do extended season and to travel all over to compete. This will be our 5th state traveled to for extended season over the years and easily the most exciting one. Our Hopewell youth cheerleading squads are the sole traditional recreational teams within the entire western Pennsylvania region, and are one of only eight traditional rec teams in the entire state of Pennsylvania that will be competing at the Quest Championship!

The twerps age group (Shooting Stars, formerly 1st and 2nd Grade Twerp cheerleaders) will be the youngest team from our community competing at the Quest Championship in Orlando Florida this weekend! These young girls have been preparing since October for this moment and they are beyond excited to compete at the Most Magical place on earth! These girls have improved immensely not only as a team- but individually as well. So far this season these girls have earned 1st place from Cheersport Pittsburgh Classic, and Aloha Pittsburgh Showdown. Along with receiving a Bronze Bid at Aloha for having the highest Score out of all Rec teams, and scoring the 7th Highest score out of all 30 teams in their session. These girls have worked so hard and are ready to leave it all on the mat for their biggest competition yet.

Head Coach-Aubrianna Bruzzese: As a coach it is the most rewarding thing to watch the girls you work with grow and improve. This group started together way back in May and to see how far they have come is breath taking. The dedication they have at such a young age is unbelievable. This has been one of the most special group of girls I have ever coached and i couldn’t be prouder of them! I truly am the Happiest coach on earth and I can’t wait to watch them compete one more time this season. Good luck Shooting Stars!

Blue Storm—also known as the Hopewell Termites cheerleaders—will be competing at the Quest Championship in Florida on Friday March 7th and Saturday March 8th. These third and fourth grade girls have worked so incredibly hard, adding in additional practices leading up to their big performances in an effort to give it their all. This extended season has already brought them two 1stPlace banners—one at Cheersport at the David Lawrence Convention Center and another at the Aloha competition at Robert Morris University. They are extremely excited for their next destination!
Coached by Melissa Hosack (assisted by Ashley Grant), the team consists of twenty-one girls from the Hopewell District. These young cheerleaders are thoroughly dedicated to their sport and have earned their spot at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. I wish them all the best! Good luck, girls!

The Hopewell Vikings Mighty Mite team, known as Beauties in Beast Mode for the extend cheer season, consists of ten regular season cheerleaders and four crossovers from the Termite team. They adapted their regular season routine by adding basket tosses, changing their pyramid, adjusting their tumbling, and revamping their dance. These girls updated this performance in just seven practices.

Their first competition was the CHEERSPORT – Pittsburgh – Classic in December, where the girls earned Grand Champs status, securing a Bronze Bid to The 2025 Quest Recreational Championship in Orlando. The girls then took the next seven practices to enhance their stunting skills and refine their performance. They are excited to cheer at the Disney ESPN Center, showcasing their updates and highlighting their team spirit.

“To say I am proud of these girls is an understatement,” shared Head Coach Casey Sadler.  “We don’t just aim for first place; we strive for Grand Champs every single time. This incredible group of girls embodies the mentality and drive every coach dreams of. Witnessing youth athletes with such immense passion for this sport is truly amazing. I can’t wait to see them perform and leave everything on the mat.”

Midgets- Head coached by Paige Ellison. I love coaching the older group of girls because of the challenges it brings. Pushing the girls to be their best. And pushing them to their highest limits when it comes to self confidence. Watching them strive to do things they have never done before. When you start the season off and see the team you have and then you compare it to the end of the season it’s a whole different team. They become strong together. They become a family together. And they become 1. When it comes to extended season it can become a challenge in itself because things have to change. But these girls have overcome a lot of different changes. And they still manage to exceed my expectations. As a coach your goal is to reach every child on your team. To make sure they are pushed to be their best. I had to pull up 4 girls for extended season. One being only a termite who is on 3 teams. Even though the age limits are all different they manage to still work together. Watching their confidence grow in each other and themselves is truly amazing. We ended our regular season with a first place win and only 1 point away from grand champs. So I’m praying that we also have the same outcome as we make our way to Florida. These girls have worked so hard to get to where they are right now. So I’m confident and I have faith in them. Even if we do not win I want them to know how proud I am of them. And how much I loved being their coach. 

As the vp you put your confidence in your coaches on each level. Starting at kindergarten all the way down. I truly feel like I have the best group of coaches. I know that I can rely on them when I’m not there and I know that they take their volunteer positions very seriously. Which is the only thing I can ask of them. They all have the heart and passion for this sport. Even though some do not consider this a sport. It is. The parents and children are fully committed to it and that’s what makes this program amazing. These girls cheer all year round and have a couple weeks before it starts all over. They work hard from April to April sometimes. Multiple times a week. For two minutes and 30 seconds these girls put everything aside and perform and strive to be the best together. All of these coaches have put so much time and effort into our girls all year round. And I’m truly grateful for each and every one of them. There will come a time where they move on when their child seniors out and it will be very hard to replace them. They have set the standards high. And we have built such a great relationship through the years. And I just want them to know how thankful I am to have them. Our parents also are truly one of a kind. This league wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for everyone involved making sure every expectation is met. I’m grateful for the opportunity of being apart of something so amazing. I hope everyone has safe travels there and back. And when we get back we all hope to celebrate first places wins. 

In speaking with Coach Rayla Neff, she said their modo is what they live by for Hopewell Youth Cheer – “We Succeed because we are Family!”

Hopewell Sports Nation will stay close to all the success of the cheer teams this weekend but if you want all the live action you can check it out on ESPN at the below link!

https://tv.varsity.com/articles/12789426-how-to-watch-2025-the-quest-varsity-tv