More than 250

cheer and dance teams, equaling roughly 5,000 athletes, converged on Chattanooga

this past weekend for the event. Tucs' youth team, mainly comprised of

local fifth- and sixth-graders, competed against nine other regionally

and nationally ranked teams to claim their victory.

"Our Youth

team competed against several very established gyms," said TUCS co-owner,

head All-Star coach, and industry renowned coach Lance Stella. "These

gyms have been competing for years and ours is so young, we really only

hoped to gain experience for our teams. We never expected to walk away

with a win at a competition of this caliber, not yet anyway. These kids

have worked long and hard and have come a long way in a short amount of

time. This win is absolute evidence of what can be accomplished with hard

work and dedication."

The win didn't

come without some tense moments though. The TUCS crowd held their collective

breath as the team took to the stage for Sunday's final round of competitions.

Seated in first place following Saturday's performance, the young team

found themselves fighting for top honors against several more experienced

gyms.

Youth team

member Lindsey Purcell of Tyrone, 11, credits the motivational talk that

coach Stella had with the team prior to taking the floor with the win.

"He told us not to give up, no matter what happens don't give up,"

recalled Purcell. Those words were whispered over and over again by each

team member throughout the routine. "I could see everyone fighting

with everything they had in order to perform a clean routine, and we did

it!" said a very proud Purcell.

Much to the

delight of the thousands of spectators, the team went on to deliver a

flawless routine, claim the top prize and the national bragging rights

that go along with it.

Tucs Cheer

Lab, located in Fayetteville, opened their doors less than two years ago

and producing a national championship team in that amount of time is relatively

rare in the sport. To it's credit, Tucs has experienced unprecedented

growth, consistent with the unbelievable growth the sport of competitive

cheerleading has experienced across the country.

The gym, which

boasts a total of six competitive cheer and dance teams, placed in the

top three in five of the six categories they competed in. Not far behind

the youth team was the pee-wee and advanced junior teams, both of whom

finished second, and the senior team who finished third, in very competitive

divisions. The dance team performed two dances, placing second in one

dance and third in another. Following a difficult performance on Saturday,

the junior co-ed team finished the competition with a strong performance

on Sunday, placing sixth overall.

"Placing

in the top ten at a national competition is commendable, top five is impressive,

and top three is just unbelievable," said Pee-Wee head coach Katie

Stella. "All of our teams really gave it their all and came out of

this competition winners. We are very proud of every athlete in this gym."

What's next

for the gym? "We are preparing for another national championship

series in Orlando in March," says Coach Stella, still elated with

the placement of all six teams. "We will be working even harder to

bring another national championship title