At last year’s Cheerleading Worlds, one team’s white cheer shoes looked a little more like glass slippers. 

“They were that princess story last year,” said Eric Contreras, director of Desert Storm Elite in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Everyone’s little Cinderella. Like, ‘Where’d these great girls come from?’”

Bliss, Desert Storm’s International Open All-Girl 5 team, came seemingly out of nowhere to finish sixth in the 2017 finals. If not for a dropped stunt in prelims, who knows how their fairytale could have ended? One thing is certain: this year in Orlando at Worlds, this team is going for it all.

@DSE_Cheer @DesertStormEric #TeamJAMZ is so proud!!! #HIT #Amazing pic.twitter.com/Xc2DDgeOYh

— JAMZ Cheer and Dance (@JAMZCheer) May 1, 2017

That very question inspired several team members who intended to retire after the championship to return again for one last season. 

“They just didn’t want to see how well they did at Worlds last year and end it there,” Contreras said. “Their bodies are wearing down but they’re holding on tight just because they believe in themselves.”

Their belief is evident from the moment they strut onto the mat and get set with a sassy clap-clap-heeeyyyy. 

In their all-new routine, which they debuted at the Jamz Clash at the Canyon State on April 21, they cleanly execute a dynamic two and half minutes that opens with back handspring fulls accompanied by a sky-high kick-double basket. 

The energy only goes up from there, with a stunning new elite sequence at the routine’s mid-point that will make your shoulders tired just from watching it. 

Bliss coaches Matthew Brown and Kellie Mailloux estimate that the team has competed 10 new and different routines over the span of 12 competitions this season, recently adding an emphasis on more standing tumbling and trick tumbling to hopefully give Bliss the edge over other teams from the United States.

“We want to hit zero,” Brown said. “I think if we focus on what we do and how we do, the rest is going to happen because of it. We’ll get the result that we want.”

Bliss isn’t the only team from Desert Storm Elite looking to make a splash in Orlando. Rage, the gym’s Small Coed 5 squad, heads to Worlds fresh off a Level 5 Grand Champs performance at last weekend’s Jamz event in Phoenix. Consistency has been the team’s hallmark this season under the leadership of Contreras and Ashley Singer. 

Rage, which secured a paid bid this year, placed 26th in its division at the 2017 Worlds. This year, they’re eyeing the top 15. 

“It’s going to be anyone’s day at the end of the day when you go out and do it,” Contreras said. "Everyone can try and imitate, but we’re real.”

Tune in to FloCheer April 28-30 to watch Desert Storm Elite’s Bliss and Rage compete for titles at the Cheerleading Worlds 2018.

By Sarah Kezele

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