Dream Athletics teams place ninth at national cheer competition in Orlando
Two Samoa teams finished ninth in Orlando, a top-10 national finish against more than 18,000 cheerleaders and a sign of Humboldt’s pipeline.
Two Samoa cheer teams reached a national benchmark in Orlando, with Dream Athletics’ Junior 1 and Junior 3 squads both finishing ninth at The Summit 2026. The result put a Humboldt County program inside the top 10 at one of the country’s biggest cheer stages, where more than 18,000 athletes competed at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The Summit ran April 30 through May 3 and has grown since its debut in 2013 into a competition that draws teams from across the globe. Dream Athletics sent teams built around Star Wars themed routines, and the trip tested more than choreography. It demanded repetition, timing and the kind of confidence that lets young athletes perform in front of a massive crowd without being swallowed by the moment.
That matters in Samoa because Dream Athletics is more than a one-weekend travel team. The gym, at 900 Vance Ave. in Samoa, says it offers recreational and competitive cheerleading, tumbling, dance, birthday parties and more. Its cheer program serves athletes ages 3 to 18, and the competitive side places athletes with others of similar age and ability for a year-round season that culminates in meets like Orlando.
The finish also fits a longer pattern of success for the local program. In 2023, Dream Athletics Junior 2 team Motley Crue placed fourth at the All-Star World Championships in Orlando, another national result that showed Samoa athletes could travel well beyond Humboldt County and still land near the top of the standings. Taken together, the results suggest a pipeline that is producing more than one strong team at a time.
Dream Athletics is already looking ahead to its next season. Team placements for Season 12 are set for June 3 and 4, and the parent information meeting was listed for Monday, June 1 at 6:30 p.m. For local families weighing youth sports options, the Orlando finish is a reminder that one of Humboldt County’s smallest communities is sending athletes onto one of cheerleading’s biggest national stages and bringing home proof that they belong there.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
