Mac’s Cheer: All Star Cheerleading at it’s Best and The Road to Worlds
Mac’s All Star Cheer in Draper, founded by Mack and Janet Hirshberg, understands the pressure it takes to be one of the best in the nation and has easily earned the title as the toughest competitor in Utah. This weekend Mac’s Cheer took three of their level five cheer teams to the Worlds Cheerleading Competition in Orlando, Florida where they competed against the best from across the world. While Mac’s Cheer isn’t exactly new to the Worlds competition, every year the routines become harder and more complex than the years before.
Mac’s is known for being the best in the state of Utah where they have taken home countless National titles and an unprecedented amount of regional titles. Mac’s was also featured in Cheer Biz Magazine in 2010 as one of the top gyms in the country and in 2011 Mac’s Cheer became Utah’s first and only USASF Certified Gym.
The Cheer Worlds is hosted by the U.S. Allstar Federation and this international event brings together more than 9,000 cheer athletes to vie for world champion titles in senior and international club divisions and categories.
The competition has three rounds of competitions spread out over three days. Today is the last day where only the top three teams from each division are left to battle it out. While Mac’s teams didn’t make the top three this year, they have in the past and they certainly left their mark on this years competition.
All of the teams that went to Worlds earned their invitations to through national competitions throughout the year. There are over 40 National Competitions that offer “bids” to come compete at the Worlds Events. In February at the Spirit Sports Competition in Palm Springs, Mac’s Sr. Starz received a fully paid bid, which means they were given a check for $25,000 by the National sponsors of that competition to represent them at Worlds. S5 received their bid to worlds at that same competition.
This competition is the toughest of them all and the top competitors always come with their A game. Mac’s Sr. Starz competed against 74 teams, S5 had 68 competitors and Legacy battled it out with 34 other teams.
The road to get to Worlds can be grueling and tough but also very rewarding. This is the ninth time Mac’s Cheer has represented the state of Utah and have in the past come out almost nearly at the top by placing in the top 20 for many of those years. No other gym in Utah has been successful in making the top 20 and in 2013, Mac’s Sr. Starz took home the bronze medal (third place) out of the 89 teams that competed in their division.
It is estimated that there are nearly three million cheerleaders that make up the nearly 1,500 All Star programs within 613 gyms across the USA. Many of the cheerleaders, who start as young as six with the intensive cheer/gymnastics, go on to cheer in college and continue on in the world of All Star Cheer well into their adult life.
Last year, Mack Hirshberg, founder of Mac’s, made history by being the oldest participant at Worlds and the only team to ever feature both a father and daughter on the same team. He was 50 when he cheered with his daughter on Legacy their Senior Level 5 International Open Co-ed team. This year, Mack and his wife Janet were happiest cheering from the front row and watching all their hard work in building their dream pay off.
Mac’s Gym continues to grow as they become increasingly more and more sought out from parents and cheerleaders who want to be a part of a gym that has been so successful. In 2012 Mac’s Cheer opened up a second location in North Salt Lake and in 2015 opened a third location in Lindon.
