Gabriella Norman

Sports Award

Age:

17

Biography

Hello! I'm Gabriella, a competitive cheerleader at Premier Star Cheer and Dance in Leicester. I've been cheerleading for around 11 years now. It was originally just a new activity to try, but 1 day a week turned into 4 over the years. I love the social and physical aspects of the sport - the trips out for competitions are a welcome bonus of course. In my teams, I've managed to get the knowledge and experience for every role needed. I'm now mainly given the roles of back-spot, baser and front-spot; but I started out as a flyer. This sport has given me plenty of useful skills and qualities - both for individual and group situations. The tumbling and dance parts of cheerleading have given me confidence, self-belief and allowed me to increase my resilience. The stunting and cooperative parts have helped me develop skills such as teamwork and communication.

6 years ago, I was diagnosed with a medical condition that completely changed my life. It disrupted everything I knew and was difficult to adjust to, I'm still not completely in acceptance of it. I had only been cheerleading for a few years at this point, I was sure this would cause issues with continuing if not just prevent it entirely. Yet, here I am. Sure; there were some mishaps and learning curves - but it never stopped me. Opportunities that cheer offers me prove to myself that I can continue with what I set my mind to even if there are challenges. I still have bad days (both due to my condition and mental health struggles), but the support from my teammates and coaches get me through.

In 2022, I was fortunate enough to be in a team competing abroad in Barcelona. It was an amazing experience that I will always treasure. After this, we were given a chance to compete at the world championships in 2023! This international competition in particular was anxiety-inducing, it was the biggest arena I'd ever been in and the most broadcasted competition I had taken part in. Our supporters stood at the front, cheering us on. That and the knowledge that more were watching from home was comforting. We did it! We performed to the best of our ability and it felt great. It was amazing to hear the cheers and support from those watching - both in the arena and at home. Now, I'm in a team that has the opportunity to compete in the German All Level Championships in March 2024. We're training hard to achieve a first place medal.

The global pandemic was difficult. COVID made team members ill and forced us to stop in-person training. This, of course, prevented lots of people from practicing the majority of skills. This unfortunately lead to lots of skills being lost. It took many months before we could meet up even outside. Even with this, due to restrictions many lost skills still couldn't be practiced. As the restrictions slowly lifted, we got back into the gym and began proper practice. All teams were majorly set back and some effects of that can still be seen today. Everyone lost some confidence or motivation during lockdown, but together we built each other back up. In addition, Premier Star struggled financially (like many places). At one point it looked like we would have to shut down. Many people were unable to pay for training or just left for a different company. Thankfully we've recovered, but it was a stressful year for everyone involved.

Finally, I thank the Inspire Awards Scheme for their support for me to develop as a person and an athlete. The funding will help massively with getting to and competing in Germany. It will aid with travel costs, getting a kit, hiring a place to train while abroad and even more - which is otherwise only funded by parents and donations. I cannot express the amount of gratitude I have for their aid.