News and Events

Bright Stars Shine at Nationals

20 April 2007

The BU Bright Stars are making quite a name for themselves after winning the British Cheerleading Association event for Novice Squads.

Competing in the BUSA-sanctioned event for the first time, the 18-member squad of BU students beat Sheffield’s Hallam Cheer Warriors and Cardiff’s Snakecharmers to claim their first trophy at the competition in Telford.

The celebrations continued when the Bournemouth Galaxy dance squad finished sixth in Senior Dance for small squads.

The Galaxy’s result was made all the more satisfying because of the large entry they faced (16 teams – the largest on the day) and the small amount of time the girls had to prepare for the competition.

One day later, also in Telford, the two squads repeated their routines at the British Cheerleading Association Midlands Classic regional.

The Bright Stars and Galaxy both raised their performance levels against even harder competition and both came home with trophies.

The Bright Stars claimed second place in the Senior Novice category, with the Galaxy finishing as runners-up in New Squad Dance.

“It feels really good that after we’ve been training so hard all our efforts have been rewarded,” said Lindsey Maggs, squad founder and current coach.

Formed in 2005 by Lindsey, together with Zoe Dehnert, the Bright Stars have come along way in just two years.

Their first performance was in front of BU’s varsity sports teams for a bit of fun. Since then, however, Lindsey and Zoe’s experience has helped grow the cheerleading squad from 12 to 18, boosting the group’s chances of competitive success.

Both Lindsey and Zoe are experienced cheerleaders – veterans of various competitions, passing exams and coaching courses along the way.

They are also members of the Carshalton Cheerleaders in Surrey and the famous Palace Crystals, supporting Crystal Palace FC.

One of the most important parts of any cheer routine is the music used to accompany it. According to Lindsey, songs that are catchy and that people will recognise always go down well.

“The competition tracks we use are a mixture of different songs, speeds, beats and sound effects,” said Lindsey.

“Our last competition music had songs ranging from Justin Timberlake and the Bodyrockers to Mel C. At Nationals, faster tracks do get higher scores, so even though it might be tiring when you’re first learning the routine, its worth while because the judges love it.”