By: Amaris Delack

Have you ever been told cheerleading isn’t a sport? How these kids flip and tumble around will make you second-guess that statement. Welcome to the world of Allstar cheerleading. Located at Jacksonville Beach is an Allstar cheerleading gym called Infinity Allstars. Infinity opened in 2004 and has been a successful gym ever since. Tracie Hartkemeyer owns Infinity and has been passionate about the sport for over two decades. Tracie coached Pop Warner cheer for 10 years and loved it, but she enjoyed getting ready for competition days much more than getting ready for game days, so she knew what she wanted to do. “I love kids. I absolutely love kids. And I have said that there is nothing better than to hear the kids giggle or see the smiles on their face whenever they accomplish something at competitions,” Tracie said. 

Infinity has 12 teams this season, and the highest-level team at Infinity is the Royals. Royals are competing in the senior extra small coed 6 division this year. Royals first became a team in 2018 and have lived in the hearts of many athletes who once competed on this team. Aftan Beladi, one of the head coaches of Royals, also co-owns the gym and has coached Royals for all 7 years. Two current athletes on Royals are Londyn Bales and Summer Calhoun. This is Londyn’s second year on Royals and Summer’s first year on Royals. 

Londyn and Summer have been cheering at Infinity for most of their lives, and they cheered together when they were younger. They both are excited to take The Cheerleading Worlds mat together for the first time.  

One part of Allstar cheerleading that cheerleaders love is the travel season. Infinity travel season starts in December and ends in April. They get to travel around the U.S. wearing big bows and sparkly uniforms. It’s their goal to try to get first place at as many competitions as possible. It’s almost every cheerleader’s goal to be able to call themselves a World Champion