Infinity Athletics’ U12 Supernovas made history over the weekend becoming the youngest team from Saskatchewan to compete at the All-Star World Championship in Orlando, Florida.  

They did more than compete, they made it all the way to the finals, finishing fourth place in the world.  

“Getting fourth place was an amazing feeling,” said Melissa Marzolf, one of the owners of Infinity Athletics. “Seeing all the work, time, and excitement. Then having them up on the world stage was amazing.” 

“Tears were rolling, and everyone’s buckets were full of excitement and love," adds Marzolf. 

In their first performance on Saturday, they hit zero in their run, meaning the Supernovas had no deductions, which qualified them for Sunday’s final being within the top 8.

“When they announced our name at that session there were tears flowing and everyone was so excited.” 

On Sunday, the team had yet another hit-zero run, which set them up for the championship announcement and their eventual fourth-place finish.  

Their final score was 93.3 out of 100 and they missed third place by 0.60 of a point.  

“With that, it came down to whether there was spacing that was slightly off or a little bit of technique in body positions in the flyers or tumbling. They tumbled together, so if something wasn’t 100 per cent synchronized you would get a .1 or .2 [deduction] here and there. It could have been a couple of very little things that made that difference.” 

Marzolf explains that she was very proud of the team’s ability to perform on such a big stage. In total, at the event, there were over 21,000 athletes from all the divisions and then another 90,000 spectators.  

“They are rockstars and love to perform. The nerves were backstage but you would never know it when you saw them. They performed like they could do it in their sleep. It was so fun to see them take that energy and perform.” 

With the team being so young, Marzolf adds that there were a lot of conversations with coaches, judges, and parents with several takeaways.  

“The [United] States is a whole other calibre of competitive cheer down. We had high hopes, but we weren’t 100 per cent sure of what we were going into. Seeing and watching the athletes up on that stage just shows the hard work that you put in and how much hard work it does take.” 

“It just ignited that spark of the love for cheerleading in everyone again being a part of such a great event. Also, to see the opportunities that there are for young competitive athletes.” 

Last weekend’s championship event did mark the end of the competitive dance season, but that won’t stop Infinity Athletics from preparing for next season.  

“In May we have our Elite competitive tryouts for next year so that they can get their teams and schedules for the fall. We have spring classes and a full summer of camps and then jump into the season again.”