Steinwinder selected to be part of UCA staff

Rachel Steinwinder, senior at St. Patrick and parish member of Blessed Seelos in Biloxi, has been selected to be a cheer instructor for the Mid South Region Universal Cheerleading Association (UCA). She will attend eight weeks of summer camps this summer as a cheer instructor for junior high school and high school cheerleading squads.

Rachel has cheered for the St. Patrick junior high school team in seventh and eighth grade, and served her team as a captain in the eighth grade. She has been a varsity cheerleader in ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelve grade. Throughout her many years of cheering for her school, she has also been a competitive cheerleader for Cheer Force One in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and ACE Cheer Company in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Rachel cheered for Cheer Force One for one year in ninth grade before she went to ACE Cheer Company to be an ACE Chief. She has been an ACE cheerleader for tenth, eleventh, and twelve grade. Rachel’s team received a full paid bid to compete in the Cheerleading World’s competition in Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Along with cheerleading, Rachel also is and has been a dancer at Kelli’s Steps School of Dance in Biloxi, Mississippi, for sixteen years.

Approximately seventy-five cheerleaders tried out to be a UCA cheer instructor, and only thirty-seven, including Rachel, made the UCA team. “I’ve always dreamed of being on the UCA cheer staff since I was in the seventh grade when I first went to cheer camp,” says Rachel, “I am so blessed and excited to begin my journey as a UCA cheerleader this summer.” On May 13 and 14, Rachel will attend Mississippi State cheer try outs with hopes of being a cheerleader for the Bulldogs. Rachel plans to attend college in the fall at Mississippi State University and major in occupational therapy.

Good luck, Rachel, this summer as a cheer instructor for UCA and at your college cheer tryouts!

Story by Lindsay Holmes