The smallest voice, the loudest cheer
How eight-year-old Emma, a Grade 3 student at UAS, helped her cheerleading squad secure Grand Champion at The Spirit Championship in Paris…
In Paris, on a competition mat under stage lights, an eight-year-old from Universal American School stood among her teammates and waited for the music to start.
The ‘Rubies’ had flown in from Dubai with something no UAE team had ever carried into The Spirit Championship before, and Emma was right there in the line-up, ready for her cue.
"We are incredibly proud of UAS cheerleader Emma, who recently travelled to Paris to compete on the international cheerleading stage representing the UAE for the first time in this sport," says Coach Alex Mead. "Emma and Dubai Athletics Cheer made history, bringing home the Grand Prize. It was a moment that highlights Dubai's growing presence in the global cheerleading community."
Leading with energy
The Rubies came home with first place in their division and the Grand Champion title for Dubai Athletics Cheer, and the UAE finally had a major international cheerleading win to celebrate, with one of its youngest athletes right at the centre of the photograph.
Emma's love for the sport started long before Dubai, because in Japan she trained with a team called ‘Marine’ and competed at national level three times, so cheerleading found her early and stuck. When her family moved to the UAE, she joined UAS in the middle of Grade 1, and by Grade 2 she was already on the school’s Scorpion squad, learning routines alongside girls older and taller than she was.
"Emma leads with her energy long before she leads with words," says Coach Alex. "Her teammates respond to that."
That energy is something her squad sees every week in training. Emma will step into a base position when a routine calls for it, picking up new choreography quickly and arriving at practice ready to work. When the UAS squad voted for Cheerleader of the Year for the 2024 to 2025 season, they chose her.
Dubai Athletics Cheer
Beyond school, Emma trains with Dubai Athletics Cheer, the first cheerleading gym in the UAE, and the gym behind the Rubies' historic trip to France.
The win matters beyond the trophy cabinet, because the UAE is still building its place in competitive cheerleading and a Grand Champion title from Paris gives the sport a marker it did not have before. Dubai Athletics Cheer is still the country's first and only cheerleading gym, and the Rubies are now the first UAE squad to win on an international stage, with an eight-year-old from UAS in the line-up.
Coach Alex puts it simply, and the words sound less like a coach's praise than a quiet promise about what is still to come. "Your dedication, talent, and spirit make the UAS community proud as you continue to shine on the world stage."