On Oct. 19, Fairhope Middle School’s competitive cheerleading team competed in UCA’s Rocket City Regional in Huntsville, Alabama, and won their division by four points. 

The team consists of 19 members, with 16 who compete on the mat. The team has three alternates who are also required to know the competition material. 

“We just did the very best we could,” said Kaylee Hattaway, eighth grade cheerleader.

The team has been preparing to compete in not only this competition but also numerous others. On Oct. 9, the team competed in the Super South Regional UCA Cheerleading Competition to secure a bid to compete at the state competition in Birmingham on Oct. 10-13.

“We prepared for competition by having several practices, going through all the little details and any other comments we got from our coaching staff, and bringing in people with UCA staff experiences to our practices to see what we can improve,” said Sally Searcy,  middle school cheer coach. 

The team practices three days a week when preparing for a competition.

“We try and rep out a lot of full-outs so our stamina can be up,” Searcy said.

The team earned a bid to Nationals, which will be held in February of 2026. A bid allows them the right to register to compete. 

“I felt confident they could hit their routine,” Searcy said.

Searcy chose to go to a northern competition to ensure they could have a harder competition and go against teams that have national experience.

“The spirits were kinda low because we knew we were going against really good teams, but I believed that we could do good,” Hattaway said.

The team will do fundraising to help prepare financially for their trip. To contribute, follow them on Instagram @fairhopemscheer. 

“Our biggest goal is to make it extremely affordable for every cheerleader to go,” Searcy said.

There is a link on MySchoolBucks where donations are taken for the cheer program.