Deer Lake girl has plenty to cheer about at Hula Bowl
Kira Sedlock could see the rising volcanic mountains and the beautiful valleys off in the distance as she practiced her cheerleading skills for a recent performance during the Hula Bowl in Hawaii. It was a breathtaking scene that the 15-year-old Deer Lake girl will never forget, and a once-in-a-life opportunity that gave Sedlock plenty to cheer about this year.
Sedlock said most girls her age only dream of taking a trip to Hawaii to cheer in front of thousands of football fans.
But the dream actually became a reality for Sedlock earlier this year when the sophomore at Uniontown Area Senior High School was selected to cheer at the Hula Bowl.
Accompanied by her father and mother, Adam and Kathy Sedlock, the family boarded a plane and headed for Hawaii during the last week of January.
“The whole island is just beautiful even though it’s mostly volcanoes,” Sedlock said. “Where we practiced, if you looked one way it was this tiny side-street-like road, and then the other way were the huge volcanoes and valleys. There were even houses that looked so tiny on the hillsides, and they were almost up in the clouds. Everything was absolutely beautiful.
“I kept thinking ‘How could they drag us to this beautiful place and make us work our butts off?'” Sedlock said.
This trip was certainly no lap of luxury because Sedlock was there on a mission. Her mission was to cheer. She had practice every day Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to noon and again from 4 to 10 p.m.
“The whole thing was extremely well organized,” said Adam Sedlock, Kira’s father. “It was well chaperoned for the squad and a great experience as well. They worked hard the whole week they were there.”
Sedlock found herself with the chance of a lifetime after she was nominated during a summer camp at her school. The National Cheerleaders Association nominates the students they feel display superior leadership skills, showmanship and technique. These students have the opportunity to become members of the All-American Team, and then they can choose between cheering at the Orange Bowl in Florida or the Hula Bowl in Hawaii.
“I’ve been to Florida before, so I choose to go to Hawaii instead,” Kira said. “Once I made my choice, I had to call a certain number, and then I was sent information over the period of a few months and off I went.”
Kira said that there were several other girls nominated from her squad, but she was the only one who took part in the event.
“If you are nominated, you are invited to go to one of the events,” she said. “But I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to go. I couldn’t even imagine passing up this chance. It’s just crazy.”
Sedlock became part of a team with 290 other students from around the country. The squad included both male and female students, who displayed top cheerleading qualities. Each student was nominated with a different award, such as “motions,” “jumps,” “techniques” or other qualities.
After being nominated in the camp, the student received a ribbon that they were required to display, typically attached to their hair, to show that they have been nominated once already. This allowed the judges to consider the others.
“I learned a lot of great leadership skills and friendship skills and how to be a better person overall,” Sedlock said. “Since I’ve been back, I’ve been so much nicer to people. I realized how important my friends are because when I was there I met new friends, but they weren’t like my old friends back here. They are the best and I couldn’t ask for anything more. They weren’t even jealous of me when I came back from Hawaii. They were all happy that I went.”
Before Sedlock left for Hawaii, she received a green-and-blue uniform that she said resembled water and bubbles. She also received a tape of the routines she would have to learn. At the game, the girls did primarily dances for the halftime show, which consisted of a number of moves, stunts and transitions to different formations.
“When I first got the tape, I thought the routines were really cheesy,” Sedlock said. “But once I got there, I found out they were really neat with a lot of props and transitions. Whenever I saw everything pulled together, it was really nice.”
Since Kira is only 15 years old, she is hoping that she may get a chance to take a similar trip before she graduates from high school.
“It was such an amazing experience,” Sedlock said. “It made me think a lot about who I was and who I wanted to be when I was older. I changed my attitude about a lot of things in life.”
A junior varsity cheerleader at Uniontown Area Senior High School, Sedlock has two older brothers, Jeron, 23, and Jesse, 19. She is the granddaughter of Herman and Sally Reynolds of Fayette City and Elizabeth Sedlock of Perryopolis.
Sedlock has aspirations of becoming a college football coach, athletic trainer or sports commentator. She hopes to attend Florida State University, where she will major in sports communication or sports health.
“I love football, and I love sports,” Sedlock said. “I want to do something that I will enjoy for the rest of my life and not be stuck with a bad job or one where I’m inside all day. I love to interact with people.”