There are many high school students involved in school sports. While participating in some of these sports comes opportunities for seniors to obtain academic scholarships if they plan on attending a university after they graduate. Competitive Cheer has a well-known scholarship competition known as LMCCOA, which stands for Lake Michigan Competitive Cheer Officials Association. It was established in 1998 by a group of competitive cheer officials as the sport was just beginning to emerge. At this competition, there are judges watching the seniors who were nominated for an academic scholarship by their coaches. The senior must have a 3.5 GPA before the season as a requirement.

According to the Competitive Cheer Coaches Association of Michigan (CCCAM), there have to be two submitted letters of recommendation: one from a high school teacher, administrator, or any organization director; the other must be from a current coaching staff member. For the official judges to observe the seniors while competing they are required to wear a different color bow than the other girls on their team. The competition for this year was held in late Saturday, January 25, at Byron Center High School. Byron Center tends to be where the competition will be held for the years to come now.

The money for the scholarship is raised through donations, an annual raffle, and through vendor stands that sell an assortment of bows, clothing items, and food. On an average there are 10 to 12 scholarships awarded. This year there were 12 scholarships handed out with 24 total teams at this competition. The amount of scholarships depends on the donations and vendor sales.

After scores for the competition are announced, the scholarships are next. Senior Averie London was nominated by her coaches for a scholarship and ended up winning. London received a scholarship for $1000. “I was completely shocked. At first, I wasn't even sure I heard my name being called, and then all my teammates looked at me and started cheering for me. I was overwhelmed with emotions.” said London. She has been involved in the Hudsonville cheer program since she was a child cheering at Rocket Cheer. She plans on attending University of Kentucky for the upcoming school year and is majoing is pyschology. London plans on trying out for the university’s cheer team. London plans on continuing her cheer career through college after tryouts.