Reading Cheerleaders Ready for 'Once in a Lifetime' Trip to Nationals

The Reading Pop Warner football team isn't the only local squad hoping to go to Florida and win a national championship. A group of local girls have also provided the town plenty to cheer about as well.

A team of Reading Pop Warner cheerleaders are leaving this weekend for Florida to participate in the national championship competition against 15 teams from eight regions on Monday morning.

"We're very proud of the girls," said team mom Trish Leyne. "They've done a fantastic job all season. It's very exciting and they'll have a lot of fun in a once in a lifetime experience."

Made up of fourth graders, the D Team is the youngest Reading team to ever earn a spot in the national competition. They qualified on November 9 during the regional competition in Springfield.

In addition to cheering on the sidelines for the football team, the Pop Warner cheerleaders also took part in three competitions this season. Of those, the locals won first place in two of them and earned second at the regionals.

Leyne said that the team trains six hours a week, and have come a long way since the season began. 

"They've learned that hard work pays off, that's for sure," said Leyne. "It's wonderful to be representing the town. It's fantastic that we have two teams going to nationals. The whole town is buzzing about it. It's just a very exciting experience."