Left to right: Makayla Martin (13), Lilly Russell (12), Josie Davidson (11). Photo by Mark Burdette.
By: Mark Burdette | Posted: Jan. 19, 2018
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA (The Clendenin Leader) – Each year the athlete’s from Famous Superstars, an all-star competitive cheer gym based in Charleston, WV, always look forward to their first competition of the year held in Charlotte, NC. The Spirit of Hope 2018 National Championship sponsored by Universal Spirit is a two day National Competition that all-star cheer teams come from all over the east coast to compete in hopes to get a paid bid to U.S. Finals in Virginia Beach, VA; D2 Summit and The Summit in Orlando, FL at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World; and the coveted Cheerleading Worlds (The Super Bowl of Cheerleading) at Disney World.
To capture the “Spirit of Hope”, The Clendenin Leader decided to follow several athletes who are members of Famous Superstars Glitter, which is a Level 3 Junior team, who proudly represent the Elk River Valley area on the national stage. Athletes Josie Davidson (11), Lilly Russell (12) and Makayla Martin (13) are members of Famous Superstar Glitter. Josie has been cheering for Famous for 7 years. This is Lilly’s second season with Famous. Makayla has been cheering for Famous for 3 years. They all serve as bases for their team while Lilly on occasion serves as a flyer during their routine.
The Spirit of Hope competition is all three athletes favorite competition. When I asked each of these young athletes the question, “Why do you look forward to Spirit of Hope each year?” the unanimous consensus is they like what the competition represents and the fact that Hope wanted to help others instead of herself and that her story lives on. Many of the athletes that attend each year come to not only compete but show their support for Hope who was a cheerleader just like them.
Not just for the competition itself but the Spirit of Hope’s popularity is deeply rooted with its connection with the March Forth With Hope Foundation. In June 2003, Hope Elizabeth Stout was diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 12. Unfortunately, the treatments did little to stop the disease from spreading and by November, Hope was confined mostly to a wheelchair. But then something magical happened and it changed many lives in the process.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation visited Hope in November 2003. They told Hope she could have anything she wanted; to just name it. Hope thought for a few minutes and then answered: “You know, I am lucky…I have been to Disney World, swam with the dolphins in Cancun and go to the beach all the time. You say there are 155 kids on the waiting list? Well, my wish is TO GRANT ALL THEIR WISHES, ALL 155 OF THEM. And to do it just as soon as possible.”
Even though Make-A-Wish was faced with a herculean task-Hope’s Wish would cost nearly $750,000–they sprang into action. A local company got the ball rolling with a $25,000 donation; the Charlotte Observer ran a December 19 story on Hope which local WBT radio personality Keith Larson picked up on during his morning radio show. He had Hope on for what is now a legendary interview; one that is replayed every Christmas; the Carolina Panthers went on a roll, winning game after game en route to the NFC Championship and a Super Bowl appearance and a mid January black tie, “Rat Pack” themed event was planned called appropriately, THE CELEBRATION OF HOPE. Appropriate because Hope pretty much planned the event; right down to the last detail.
Unfortunately, she didn’t live to see it. Hope Elizabeth Stout passed away on January 4, 2004, surrounded by her family and her precious kitties.
After her death, donations poured into the Make-A-Wish office at such a fast rate that volunteers had to be brought in to count money and answer the phones. Children brought in the contents of their piggy banks; girls donated their babysitting money; a homeless man in Charlotte walked into the MAW offices and gave what little he had. He told the stunned volunteers, “it isn’t much but I want to help Hope.”
On Friday, January 16, the Celebration of Hope gala was held at the Westin in Charlotte, NC. Over 1,000 people attended the event and at 11:00, emcee Keith Larson announced to the stunned crowd that $1,116,000 had been raised and the money was still coming in. All of the kids would have their wish granted. Hope’s Wish had been fulfilled.
Now you have a little glimpse into the impact that this little cheerleader has had on so many lives and why the Spirit of Hope is such a special event. Personally, it is my favorite competition to attend each year and I have been blessed by the impact that the Spirit of Hope has had on my daughter’s life. Hope serves as an inspiration for so many athletes and her story continues to be told each and every year through the endless love and support her devoted parents Stuart and Shelby Stout put on display at the Spirit of Hope.
We all look forward to talking with Stuart and Shelby and to get our annual photo with Hope’s parents.
Left to right: Sydney Roy, Shelby Stout, Kenzie Carroll, Stuart Stout and Karleigh Burdette. Photo by Mark Burdette.
I had a brief opportunity to share with Stuart about the launch of our new online publication The Clendenin Leader and told him about the article that I wanted to do to show how Hope’s Story continues to touch lives. I asked him if he could share with our readers about the March Forth With Hope Foundation and it’s connection with the Spirit of Hope competition.
According to CEO and Board Chair of the March Forth With Hope Foundation, Stuart Stout explains, “The Spirit of Hope has become an integral part of the March Forth With Hope Foundation and supports our effort to help families who have a child facing a life threatening illness. Since we began this partnership over a decade ago, the Spirit of Hope has contributed over $400,000 to this effort. Shelby and I look forward to attending the event each year where we renew old acquaintances and begin new ones. We have had the privilege of watching so many of these young kids grow up to be outstanding people…some like Torie Dingler who is an osteosarcoma survivor, even come back and help us in our booth each year. When Hope’s Wish comes out in December, we know that the entire competitive cheerleading nation will be there to support the movie…and in doing so, will help us grow the March Forth With Hope Foundation so that more families can be helped. We are honored by the support of everyone who attends the Spirit of Hope!”
Have you heard the BIG announcement? Get into the Spirit of Hope and let’s get it trending!!! #HopesWish #SpiritofHope #TarajiPHenson 📢❤️ pic.twitter.com/QdwbpJWyde
— UniversalSpirit (@US_Cheer) January 14, 2018
Stuart and Shelby Stout make a BIG announcement about their upcoming film that has been in the works for the past couple of years and it’s finally is going to happen. Via @US_Cheer
As you roam the hallways of the Charlotte Convention Center it is wall to wall cheerleaders, cheer moms, cheer dads and other family and friends that are there to cheer their teams on. Vendors on each side providing food and drinks with long lines to boot. Especially the Starbucks line that is at a minimum of 20 to 30 people deep every time I would pass by. Needless to say, I never get my Starbucks fix. The competition takes up the entire convention center with 3 performance halls, 1 warm-up hall and the ballroom hosts the awards on Sunday.
Josie, Lilly and Makayla’s and the rest of the teams day starts early to get ready for competition. Depending on their performance time it can be 6:00 a.m. or earlier. There is a minimum of 2 hours worth of preparation that goes into making these athletes shine on stage. Putting the uniform on is the easy part. However, the makeup and the hair is a different story. Interesting enough most of these girls rely on not their own moms to do their makeup and hair but there are other cheer moms that line girls up like assembly lines to get them ready. At this age all the cheer moms are secretly counting down the days to when the girls can do their own makeup and hair but I’m sure they aren’t holding their breath.
I’m sure you wondering where do the cheer dads fit into all of this and do they even attend the competitions? Absolutely! Coming from a cheer dad myself we all have a very similar job description. Sometimes we wear one of our favorite cheer dad t-shirts to show our daughter or son’s support that explains what we do on the back just in case we happen to forget. Trust me the cheer moms never let us cheer dads forget. A typical cheer dad job description is to load the bags, drive the car, listen to their music, unload the bags, pass out the money and cheer louder than anyone else in the stands!
As I was waiting on Josie, Lilly, and Makayla to take a picture of them just before they competed I passed Josie’s dad Mark in the hallway. He was carrying Josie’s backpack to the room where the athletes keep their personal belongings while they compete. By the way, backpacks are standard outfitting gear for cheerleaders and cheer dads like Mark can be seen carrying one throughout the entire weekend. He turned to me and said, “My job is done here.” Meaning his wife Jamie called or texted him in a frantic and said that Josie forgot her backpack in the hotel room and asked if he could run and get it and bring it to her because it has her lipstick in it and she about ready to leave for warm-ups. He made it just in time.
Once we get our athletes ready to go and get them to the meet time to join up with their team our work is still not done. As the athletes head off to warm-ups we all cheer them on and tell them we love them and to have fun and do their best. This gives us a few minutes to catch our breath, get something to eat if we are hungry and head to the performance hall to watch Team Glitter perform. One of the cool things about these competitions is they all typically have a VIP section where family and friends can go in front of the stage to cheer on the cheerleaders. The lights go down and the emcee announces your team as they all come out from behind curtain hopping, jumping and hugging each other to the music as they hit the stage. Once they are in position the lights go up and the music starts and you begin to witness the best and most adrenaline pumped two and a half minutes in all of sports.
Famous Superstars Glitter 2018. Photo by Mark Burdette.
Each year for Famous Superstars the Spirit of Hope event is their first competition of the year. Most of the teams that they perform against have already a couple of competitions under their belt. Over the years Famous has done very well at this event and this year was no different.
Team Glitter didn’t walk away as national champions in their division this time but executed two zero deduction routines which is all they could ask for. When you become a national champion at Spirit of Hope you get a jacket that all the athletes want to walk away with and proudly wear. In this case, not so much to show off their jacket but to continue to spread Hope’s Story with the world every time they put on their jacket. Glam Squad was fortunate enough to represent the gym at Famous Superstars and brought home the coveted national championship jacket in the Level 2 Youth D2 division.
Now being a cheer dad for 8 seasons with Famous Superstars it has been one of the best investments we have made in our daughter, Karleigh. She truly loves the sport and it has made a positive impact in her life. As for Josie, Lilly and Makayla I know they share the same passion for cheerleading as the rest of their teammates and can attest to the positive impact the sport continues to play in their lives every day.
Final Results for Famous Superstars at the 2018 Spirit of Hope National Championship:
Shimmer – 3rd place (L1 Tiny D2)
Sparkles – 7th place (L1 Mini D2)
Glow – 6th place (L1 Youth D2)
Glam Squad – 1st place (L2 Youth D2)
Glitter – 4th place (L3 Junior D2)
Diamondz – 4th place (L3 Senior D2)
Royalty – 2nd place (L3 Senior Coed D2 Small)
Gold – 6th place (L5 Senior Coed Small)
