A TEAM of cheerleaders is celebrating reaching a major final.

Hunters Cheerleading of Horwich is preparing for the UKCA Nationals next month with hopes reaching the European Championships in Croatia in July.

After attaining a bid with their masters group stunt team last year, which brought Team UK back the gold, Hunters have formulated four new teams with the aim of getting an invitation to the championships held in Zagreb.

A spokesman for the team said: “Last March, Hunters masters group stunt won their group stunt category, unaware that this category held an opportunity to attain a bid to compete in Koper, Slovenia last July 2016. Having sustained an injury within the routine, the five 26-40 year olds were shocked at being invited to compete for Team UK.

“The five mums and dads, all with individual disabilities entered the national competition for fun, fitness and to prove to everyone that ‘anyone can do it’. They certainly did not expect to win, let alone be invited to represent the UK in their category.

“After some fundraising and sponsorship, Hunters were delighted to be able to travel to Slovenia with the rest of Team UK and they performed the best they had ever done, as they had managed to raise the bar from their national routine.

“They were up against another UK team whom they had made great friends with and who performed amazingly. Hunters however, out-did them on the day and brought Bolton home the Gold.

“Hunters congratulated every athlete in the category. It was such an amazing experience to represent the UK in what is an ever-growing sport.

“This Spring Hunters have formulated 4 teams who will compete at the UKCA National Championships in March with hopes of attaining a new bid to compete in the European Championships this year, which is being held in Zagreb.”

Each of these four teams will compete against multiple UK teams and only the top of each category will be in with a chance to compete in Zagreb at the European Championships.

A win at the championships will be given the opportunity to compete in Japan at the World Championships as an all-star team.

This week, the TeamUK Junior National team was announced and Hunters athletes will be a part of it, This competition is held in Japan in November.

Putting Horwich on the map!

Hunters have many recreational classes alongside their competitive teams for children aged 3 up to adults, with no upper age limit. If you are interested in coming along to a session, please email info@hunterscheerleading.co or call 07857175437.