Barbados strikes double Pan Am bronze

Barbados made a historic debut at the Pan American Cheerleading Championships in Mexico, returning home on Monday with two bronze medals and a fourth place finish. 

The national team competed in three categories in the championships, earning bronze in Jazz and Hip Hop and finishing fourth in Pom.

The five-member delegation was headed by President of the BIM Cheer Federation Dana Dear and included Janae Blenman, Hailey Brathwaite, Kato Austin and Khyra Williams.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY moments after the team’s arrival, Dear said the squad performed very well, despite its limited experience at that level.

“We would have brought home three medals this season. One in Jazz, one in Hip hop and we came fourth in Pom.

“This is one of the first times Barbados has had athletes travel for cheerleading. These ones are just our performance chair athletes, so they competed in Jazz, Pom, and Hip hop. Our cheerleaders actually went to a competition in March, and they came out with second place. So definitely a historic occasion for Barbados.”

Dear said the  level of competition was intense but she was not surprised by the team’s success despite a series of challenges in preparing for the championships.

“Well we’ve been preparing for this for the last two years but it hasn’t been an easy time. It’s hard finding practice spaces on the island and it’s also hard finding time. These are all talented dancers from the Louise Woodvine Dance Academy and they’re really the cream of the crop when it comes to Barbadian dancers,” said Dear.

Following their breakthrough performance, the team’s next target is qualification for the World Championships or World Games, with Barbados aiming to achieve that goal by 2029. Before then, Barbados will compete at next year’s Pan Am Championships in Ecuador.

Dear believes the sport can now build on the team’s historic performance and grow further locally.

“We’re hoping to grow the performance cheer side a bit more, because cheerleading on the whole has grown a lot. There are a lot more of the schools at both the Primary and Secondary level participating as well as some all-star teams emerging, but we’re looking to focus on performance cheer, getting more dancers involved  and offering more opportunities for dancers to compete and to travel and to experience the outside world,” she explained.

Khyra Williams described competing at the event as amazing and said it was also an opportunity to experience Mexican culture outside the competition.

“There are so many things they obviously do differently, even the spices they put in their foods. During the competition it was also very wholesome and everyone was supporting each other.

“It was nice to see that side of the event. That we were competing as teams from all over the world, but we could still come together and make this a very fruitful event,” Williams said.

(KH)