TRIBUNE/Matthew Gorry
Elkin senior Emi Loving stunts in front of the Ferris wheel in Liverpool during Jamfest Euros.
ELKIN - When talking about her recent trip to Liverpool, England, Elkin senior Emi Loving described it in one word - “amazing.”
Loving, a member of Kernersville’s Cheer Extreme Coed Elite, won a trip to Liverpool for Jamfest Euros, a weekend-long cheerleading showcase.
Loving and Cheer Extreme hosted a skills clinic, a meet-and-greet and preformed two showcases during their five-day stay, while feeling like “celebrities.”
“That Saturday night we taught a clinic,” Loving explained. “We split them up into levels and did some stunting and tumbling. I helped some girls doing some stunts they’ve never done before and they were all really eager to listen.
“Then on Sunday, after only having one practice we had to throw together a routine with only 22 of the 36 people. We condensed our routine down and showcased it twice during the day,” she continued. “We knew it was going to be a big disaster or a huge success and it ended up hitting two perfect routines.”
Loving said the meet-and-greet after the showcase attracted far more fans than expected.
“After the showcase, we had a meet and greet. We had tables with pens to sign stuff and were told there would only be 20 to 30 people there and it wouldn’t take too long,” she said. “We sat there for three and a half hours and signed over 400 autographs!”
“The line was wrapped around the convention center and we ended up walking into the crowd to sign stuff in there,” Loving added. “I jumped in and got mobbed and stood there and just turned in a circle signing stuff; it was amazing.”
The “celebrity status” was not reserved just for the meet-and-greet. Loving said the team was mobbed by fans wherever they went around town.
“Pretty much all weekend, people would run up to us and ask for pictures when we were eating lunch or shopping or just walking around,” she explained. “It felt amazing to be looked at almost like a celebrity over there. It was a completely different experience.
“The whole celebrity factor of the whole trip was probably my favorite memory,” Loving continued. “I don’t want to sound cocky or anything but it was just crazy to be thrown into a situation where people are just dying to meet you. I was just so unprepared for it all. That was probably the craziest part of the trip, just how exclusive you seemed.”
With Jamfest Euros behind her, Loving begins her new season on a new team on Cheer Extreme, but is left with a lifetime of memories from England.
“It was a wonderful opportunity that I will never forget,” she said. “It’s just crazy where cheerleading, of all sports, has taken me. I know I’ve said this a lot, but it was amazing.”
Reach Matthew Gorry at 835-1513 or mgorry@heartlandpublications.com.
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