A teenager from North Lanarkshire had plenty to cheer about after being part of a Scotland team that landed a medal at an international tournament in the United States.
Eden Durrand, 14, was part of the elite Team Scotland who scooped a bronze medal in the World Cheerleading Championships in Florida.
The Dalziel High pupil was amongst 3000 athletes taking part in the event from countries around the globe.
This year’s tournament, which was televised on the Olympics television channel, seemed a long time in coming for the young athletes. Last year’s event was a virtual one held remotely, and in 2020 the competition was cancelled completely.
This year’s finals took place at ESPN Wide World of Sport complex at Disney World in Orlando.
The sport received Olympic recognition last summer for the first time, which could result in us seeing Scottish starlets at future tournaments.
“I actually didn’t think we’d do as well because there are so many good teams there, such as America,” Eden admits. “We don’t have the training facilities that a lot of them do.
“I dance on a Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and sometimes a Tuesday, as well as training every second Saturday with Team Scotland.
“I’d been training for the 2020 event but didn’t get to go because of Covid, which was really disappointing. It was the experience of a lifetime and an opportunity that I thought I might not get again given what happened before, but that made me try even harder to get there.”
Parents Phil and Lianne Durrand were proud that all the hard work their daughter puts in had paid off.
Lianne travelled with Eden, who was part of a 100-strong group of athletes, for the two-week stay in the States and there was definitely a bit of magic in the air as the Scots girls did themselves and their country proud.
Lianne said: “Eden was in the youngest team, in Youth Pom for Team Scotland. The USA won the gold and Mexico the silver.
“There were 70 or 80 teams competing so to take bronze was really good.
“Eden dances with Champion Cheer and Dance in Clydebank but there were kids from all over who were part of Team Scotland, from as far away as Stornoway, after auditioning to be part of the squad. It is an elite team.
“Eden puts in about 15 hours each week and trains with Team Scotland fortnightly.”
Eden won't be sitting around enjoying the moment for long. She also competes in dance events such as hip hop and jazz and is off to Liverpool this month to take part in Jamfest Europe.
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