LAKELAND, Fla. — The Central Florida Sharks cheerleading program started two years ago. It has grown and now has close to 80 cheerleaders competing across multiple age groups.

What You Need To Know

The Central Florida Sharks are a youth recreation cheerleading program with four team across multiple age divisions

In the second year of the program, the Sharks had three teams compete at the Youth Cheer Globals competition

All three teams earned a bronze medal at the Globals competition

They have cheerleaders on four teams, ages 4 to 15. In just their second year, three teams traveled to New Jersey to compete at the Youth Cheerleading Globals competition.

“This is everything. I would have never imagined that we would have gone this far and we’re still growing. It’s very overwhelming. But in such a good way. We pour into these athletes as much as we can, and we truly love each and every one of them,” Central Florida Sharks Vice President Courtney Brown said.

The Sharks are a competitive recreation team that wanted to go beyond cheering at football games. They practice two nights a week throughout their season to prepare for competitions on the weekends.

Central Florida Sharks cheerleader Stella Hernandez has fallen in love with the sport.

“I’ve really grown since then. And I think that this is my new sport. I love it,” Hernandez said.

“It’s been really fun cheering for the Sharks. I’ve met so many new people and they have become like my best friends,” Sharks cheerleader Saylor Porter said.

“These are 77 incredible human beings. Just to see them come, show up, be determined. They’re growing on and off the mat is just absolutely incredible,” Brown said.

All three of the Sharks’ teams earned bronze at the Global Cheerleading Competition, proving they are some of the best cheerleaders in the country.

“Super fun and challenging at cheerleading because we always learn new things that I haven’t learned yet,” Porter said.

“I’m so excited to be going with this team because everybody truly cares and is really putting (in) their best effort,” Hernandez said.

Their goal is to grow and continue to improve to get back to the big stage once again.