DHS Cheerleading Duo Invited to Cheer in London

By: Korie Robinson 

The Dixon High School Cheerleaders attended Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) camp at UC Davis July 20th through July 23rd.  The cheerleaders learned stunt and jump technique, dance and sideline material, leadership skills, and worked with a private UCA coach.  They also participated in the St. Jude Letter Campaign to support its lifesaving mission of finding cures and saving children fighting cancer and other catastrophic diseases.

Two of Dixon’s Varsity team members, RaBecca Hammack (captain) and Melina Ray, were selected as “UCA All-American” and received a medallion and an invitation to perform in the London New Year’s Day Parade. The pair will spend for four days with cheerleaders from all over the country, touring famous landmarks, and gearing up for their big performance on New Year’s Day.  Cheerleaders will have the opportunity to discover many of the wonders that London has to offer such as Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminister Abbey, and many other hot spots. 

The London New Year’s Day Parade, the most incredible event of its kind in the world, will be held on Wednesday, January 1st.  Hammack and Ray will perform alongside 10,000 performers before a street side audience of more than one million, and via television, a total audience of more than 20 million around the World.  They will dance and cheer their way past Berkeley Square, Big Ben, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, and The Ritz Hotel. 

Hammack says the trip to London is a “once in a lifetime opportunity” and that her “fourteen years of cheerleading experience has finally paid off.”  Hammack plans to try out for cheerleading in college this spring and hopes that being selected as UCA All-American will help her achieve that goal by standing out from other candidates.

In the six years Ray has cheered, this was her first year to experience cheerleading camp so she didn’t know what trying out for All-American would entail. The trip to London is particularly special to Ray because her father, who passed away in 2007, was born in London. Ray said “…I never once imagined I could have the opportunity to cheer in another country and represent Dixon, CA.”

Hammack and Ray are fundraising for their trip to help cover the $3,255 per person expense. The cost of the trip includes international airfare, land transportation, hotel accommodations, meals, sightseeing and admission fees, insurance and a special All-American uniform. If you are interested in supporting Hammack and Ray, checks may be made payable in the cheerleader’s name(s), Attn: London, and mailed to P.O. Box 1208, Dixon CA 95620.