The Summit: Sussex cheerleaders turn to GoFundMe for help as they prepare to defend world champion title in America

Teams from Zodiac Allstars, based in Lancing, are thrilled to be heading back to America after a ‘crazy couple of years’ and the 31 girls aged 10 to 18 have been working hard to raise the money they need.

But with Covid-19 affecting fundraising events, they are a little short and running out of time, so have turned to GoFundMe in a bid to raise £1,500 to cover gym hire for team training ahead of the The Summit, the Varsity All Star’s end-of-season championship in April.

Coach Brienne Thompson-Fields launched the appeal yesterday and already £385 has been donated.

She said: “After what has been a crazy couple of years, we are finally heading back to America. These two teams have had to miss out on The Summit championship for two years running because of Covid-19. This hasn’t stopped them pushing themselves and making sure they are ready for when they can return. Although it’s been difficult and sometimes heartbreaking, we are so proud of them.”

Zodiac Allstars was established in 2004 and is now one of the leading competitive cheerleading programmes in West Sussex, covering Worthing, Lancing, Shoreham, Brighton and Hove.

The team called Shadow is a back-to-back Summit world champion winner, as well as NCA 2020 champion, while Mint will be competing at The Summit for the first time.

Brienne said: “These are the most competitive events in cheerleading. The guys from Shadow will be heading to the Cheersport championship and NCA in just a few weeks and then finally return to The Summit.

“This will be Mint’s first time out at Summit and we cannot wait to see what they can do. As you can imagine these trips to America are costly for all those involved. These teams don’t get any help or sponsorship and put in a lot of effort to raise money where they can.”

The appeal at www.gofundme.com/f/help-zodiac-raise-money-for-training-in-the-usa will be live until the teams leave for The Summit.

Brienne said: “When we are out in America, the teams need to practice ahead of competing but hiring these gyms can cost anything from 100 to 400 dollars an hour. As you can imagine, this is super expensive and often means we don’t get to train as much as we need to.

“The teams have already hosted fundraising events including cake sales, a raffle and an upcoming quiz night. We still have quite a bit left to raise and not a lot of time to do it. With Covid-19 still being very present, quite a few fundraising ideas have either had to be postponed or cancelled so it hasn’t been easy.

“A massive thank you to everyone who has already donated, you guys are awesome. Really, every £1 will make a difference. Both teams are working super hard in the gym to make the most of this opportunity.”

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