As high school comes to an end, seniors begin to think about the next chapter of their lives. For Alexa Atlas (‘22), it is attending The University of Maryland as a cheerleader. On January 30, 2022, Atlas announced her commitment to the University of Maryland for cheerleading and she could not be more excited for this next chapter.

Atlas started cheering when she was just six years old at Magic All Stars and it was love at first sight.

“I just fell in love with the sport from the moment I started,” said Atlas.

After cheering at Magic All Stars for five years and New Jersey Spirit Explosion for three years, she decided to cheer at South Jersey Storm during her first two years of high school.

Ultimately, at the end of sophomore year, Atlas decided to send a tryout video to the 6 time Level 6 All-Girl World Champions–The World Cup Shooting Stars. World Cup is located in Freehold, New Jersey, which is about an hour away from Atlas. This is one of the best cheerleading teams in the country and has always been Atlas’ dream team. Each year, over 100 videos get sent in and about 60 people get invited to try out. Following Atlas’ video submission, Atlas received an invitation to tryout for the team. Tryouts last over a month and many athletes get cut along the way. It is hard to receive an invitation to tryout, but it is even harder to make it through all the tryout rounds.

Atlas said, “One bad day can ruin your chances of making the team.”

Finally, after the long and rigorous tryout process, Atlas made The World Cup Shooting Stars, which has been her team for the last two seasons. The Shooting Stars placed third place at The Cheerleading Worlds which took place at the ESPN World Wide of Sports in Orlando, Florida.

Atlas has many favorite memories throughout her time cheering. Her happiest moment was during Worlds 2021 when her team hit a perfect routine and finished the first day of the competition in first place. Additionally, Atlas gets to travel with her close friends around five times a year, which she enjoys immensely.

Managing school and cheer is difficult, but Atlas is good with time management and likes to be busy. Along with traveling to Freehold, New Jersey three times a week for three-hour practices, Atlas takes many honor and AP classes. However, she makes a schedule and does not procrastinate.

It had always been Atlas’ goal to follow in her mom’s footsteps who attended The University of Maryland for college. However, she never pictured herself cheering at the school until the head coach invited her to a cheerleading clinic at The University of Maryland on September 12th, 2022.

“From the second I walked into the Maryland clinic, I knew that was where I wanted to be for the next four years. The environment was very welcoming and the girls were so nice,” Atlas said.

After the clinic, she received a gold sticker from the coaches, which showed their interest in her as an athlete. They talked to her and other girls who received these stickers about getting recruited. However, Atlas had to get into Maryland before she could get recruited to cheer on the team.

When Atlas got into Maryland, she was thrilled and immediately accepted a spot at the school and as a cheerleader. Atlas’ 12 years of being an all-star cheerleader and 4 years of being a highschool cheerleader paid off.

Atlas is thrilled to be a Terrapin for the next four years and cannot wait to see what her future holds.