By James Rincon
Pflag Reporter

American Cheer Power named 11 Pflugerville cheerleaders and their 69 Austin Cheer Factory teammates Large Gym Grand Champions at the Feb. 7 All-Star National Championships.

The Cheer Factory competed in the large-gym category, which is defined by gyms with more than 75 members. Under the instruction and choreography of coach J.M. Farias, teams swept their divisions at skill levels two, three, four and five.

“We are a small gym, 80 members, and we were put in the large gym category. So that’s why it’s such a big win for us,” Farias said. “It would be evenly matched if we were in the small gym category, but we choose to challenge our kids and prepare them the best we can to go up against bigger gyms. Bigger gyms have up to 150 members or 200 members and 17 teams.”

At the end of the competition, judges combined each gym’s four highest team scores to name one Grand Champion, American Cheer Power’s highest honor. With the scores from its four only teams ACF won the title, edging gyms that brought up to 13 teams from across Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

“That’s the caliber of cheerleader that walks through our doors nowadays,” said Farias. “With the past success that we’ve had we’ve been able to reel in some really talented kids, and in turn that’s what really puts out our great success… we even have kids that commute to us all the way from Waco and San Antonio.”

Before Farias became the co-owner of ACF, he was the captain of the cheer teams at Texas State University and the University of Texas. At Texas he was named best all-around cheerleader twice and cheered for Longhorn great Ricky Williams.

“[Farias] likes to compete as a large gym, because he wants to go against the best competition. The bigger the gym is, the more resources they have and the better the competition is usually,” said Lisa Seymour, Pflugerville resident and team mom for ACF’s Junior Level Three team.

“This gym is very successful… They’re very good at what they do,” Seymour said.

Despite the ongoing success at ACF, Seymour said its small numbers take a toll on its members.

“Teamwork is very important when you’re in cheerleading. It’s the exact number of girls, so these girls work hard. They’re at practice when they’re sick; they perform when they’re sick and they’re hurt. These kids work hard and they give up a lot to be on this team,” she said.

ACF swept American Cheer Power Nationals in 2006 and in 2008 became the only Austin-area gym to even medal at U.S. All-Star Worlds. Farias said local talent is a large factor in the gym’s success.

“We have a huge number of our girls are local and we have a big group of girls from Pflugerville,” he said. “This win really kicks off our national circuit season in a big way for us… We have one in April called Worlds. That’s where we compete on the gymnastics level, and where all the countries come from across the world. It’s like Olympic level. We needed to get bids for that, and we received our bid back on January 23 – our senior co-ed team received their World bid.”

Farias said winning the Grand Champions title give his teams momentum a little more than a month before their second-ever attempt for a win at Worlds.
Seymour said to get ready for more high-level competition, Farias is not afraid to crack the whip.

“J.M. is the best at what he does. He choreographs his own stuff. He’s hands on,” she said. “He’s firm with the girls, and he makes them work hard and makes them better and helps them progress and develop, but at the same time he was a soft hand. He loves them and he does what’s best for them, so it’s kind of a tough love situation.”