Newbury's cheerleading team, Crimson Heat Tigers, picks up five British Champions crowns in Nottingham

Five teams of cheerleaders from a Newbury club have been crowned national champions.

Crimson Heat Tigers enjoyed an incredibly successful few days in Nottingham last weekend, with all of its teams finishing in the top three of their respective groups. And five out of the seven of them coming away as British Champions.

Two of the teams, which are made up of between 15 and 20 girls, were also crowned Grand Champions, meaning they not only beat all the other teams in their category but across their whole division too.

To scoop that crown the two teams – Junior 1 and Senior 1 – would have beaten 60-100 other teams.

Director of Crimson Heat, Gareth Green, said it had been so good to see the girls enjoying themselves after dealing with so much over the past two years.

“We have had to deal with the mental health fall out of the pandemic and so this competition was a huge deal for the kids,” he said.

“We just said go out and have a good time and what will be, will be.

“And then the results were coming in and it was first place, after first place, after first place.

“The children were so excited and so happy.

“Myself and my staffing team were just in admiration. We are so proud of them.”

The Youth 1, Junior 2 and Senior 3 teams were also crowned British Champions, while the Senior 4 team finished third and the Senior 6 team second.

The British Championships, held at the Nottingham Trent Arena, is the biggest competition of the year in the UK calendar and for many of the young competitors – who joined the sport over the last two years – it was their first taste of a national competition.

Two of the teams – a senior and junior team – are currently preparing to head to America in just three weeks for the World Championships.

The remaining teams are now working towards the European Championships in Liverpool in June and the final National Championships in July.

Crimson Heat Tigers, which was set up 11 years ago and has been based in Newbury’s Turnpike Industrial Estate for the past five years, is hoping to expand in the coming months and is actively looking for new, bigger premises.