AN AFTER school cheerleading club, which has grown into an international squad, has travelled to America to compete in cheerleading world championships in Florida. 

The Phoenix Stars was formed in 2012 as an after-school club in Alderbury, Salisbury and since then have grown to have their own gym with a sprung floor and are expanding into the adjacent unit to create more space with the team now having over 200 athletes.

During this time, the team has achieved Division champion, National Champion and Royal Champion titles and in 2019 won two bids from different event providers to the United States All Star Federation Championships. 

Placing 10th last year in the International Open Level six category, this year it has moved to the more competitive division of level five.

Jane Usher, programme director at the Phoenix Stars said: “We are hoping to ensure that we place the best we can and enjoy the experience.”

The level system in cheerleading allows teams to compete with different skills, starting at level one and going to the highest level which is level seven, in which the most skills are allowed.

While common belief is that the higher a level a team is, the better skilled it is, this is not true. 

The team which will be competing are the Phoenix's Gemini team, which is made up of 15 members who will be against 36 other teams in the level five division. 

While far away, updates will be on their social media @thephoneixstars and the event is being live-streamed through FloCheer. 

Phoenix Stars train at a unit in the Centurion Centre at Castlegate Business Park in Old Sarum.