MIDDLEBURG – Clay Rebels Athletics is one of the best cheer teams in the entire country. As a matter of fact, two national championships would argue that point quite well.

So how does a cheer team, that literally doesn’t even have a building in which to regularly train, go from practicing in an uneven and empty field, and using the restrooms at a nearby Family Dollar store to hoisting the trophy in Orlando after defeating some of the very best cheer teams in the country? It’s a long story.

Nicki Warner and Sheena Billington are cheer moms. Both grew up cheering. Warner cheered in Jacksonville, while Billington cheered in Texas all the way through college. They met, began coaching together, and became friends. They got together as cheer coaches while at Middleburg Athletic Association. They both work full-time. They both have children (Nicki, 5, and Sheena, 2). Where the difference becomes evident, is the lengths to which both will go in order to maintain a program for the sport they both love.

Cheer programs at this level are normally linked with a football team. When their football team moved to a different league, Warner and Billington were desperate. Moving their program to another league along with the football team would boost fees from about $290 a cheerleader to about $750. Warner and Billington knew that was something the parents of their cheerleaders likely wouldn’t be able to afford.

Eventually, the football team moved on without them and Warner and Billington decided to keep the cheer program around and run it on their own. That would take a level of diligence and dedication well beyond the norm.

“At that point, she and I did some crying and some moaning and some groaning,” said Warner. “Something’s gotta give. We can’t just back away like this. I went to all these meetings, and I met with all these different people, and we started applying for all our certificates and our non-profit paperwork … it was a very long process. All of this started in the middle of May, and the season started Aug. 1st. “

According to Warner, they did all of that while maintaining full-time jobs and taking care of their families.

Once the on-paper formation of the program was done, came the hard part. They needed somewhere to train. Warner and Billington drove all around Middleburg, looking for buildings and fields where they could train with their team. Finally, they found an empty, grassy lot on the corner at 4328 Angora St. The lot was owned by Cercy Construction, who loaned them the land until January free of charge.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start. The land wasn’t exactly smooth, with dips and uneven surfaces in some spots, but they accepted the situation and continued to push. When it was blazing hot during the summer, they practiced. When it rained, they practiced unless lightning forced them indoors. They practiced in limited lighting when it got darker.

“We had to reach out to Sunbelt and we were able to rent a light from them,” said Warner. “It was about $1,800. That got us by; we had one little tiny light that kind of lit up the whole field.”

“You couldn’t see their faces but you could see them,” said Billington.

Due to lack of a consistently level surface, or large mats, the team did a lot of marking – the process of walking through the routines without the tumbling and jumping that are usually key parts of a cheer routine. The fact that the amount of actual execution of these parts of their routines was so limited makes their achievement even more remarkable.

The Family Dollar store around the corner of the lot was kind enough to allow the team to use the restrooms while they trained.

In order to have the chance to completely practice their routines, they rented gym space from Fusion All-Stars at a cost of $100 a team for each visit. Their program has five teams with a total of 43 cheerleaders.

There is a Challenger squad consisting of special needs cheerleaders to include non-verbal, wheelchair-bound and cerebral palsy. The Challenger squad is an exhibition team, that can participate at no cost via sponsors.

“I don’t feel like they should have to pay. They have enough expenses with their everyday lives, and that was one of the biggest hits for us,” said Warner.

“It was more about the inclusion for them,” said Billington. “The parents were so excited to see their kids. Special Olympics are a huge thing and that’s exciting but to see your kid performing at the same level and with other kids, it’s all about the inclusion and that was what was most exciting for us.”

The other teams are the Tiny Mites (ages 5-7), Mighty Mites (7-9), PeeWee (9-12), and Varsity (12-16).

They did that twice monthly, which ate into their budget, but there was no choice. Also, during inclement weather, the program trained at the Lighthouse Christian School gym Middleburg.

Clay Electric has offered the program an undisclosed grant that should cover indoor rental fees for a year. Warner has received a letter saying that the grant will be paid in January.

If we know one thing, it’s that America loves winners.

Despite obstacle after obstacle, two National Championship teams were born out of hardship. Both the PeeWee, coached by Billington, and Varsity, coached by Warner, recently won national championships in Orlando.

“Its pure dedication. Between our parents, our cheerleaders, and us, this is our life. Just watching them [Clay Rebels], and seeing them perform, knowing what we’ve had to work with, you wouldn’t know that looking at them,” Warner said with pride. “There is zero defeat on their faces, and they just go out there, and they leave it all there.”

“The first time that we went to our first competition and they all showed up in their green uniforms, and they had Rebels across their chest and we got to take that first picture and hear their names, it literally just gives you goosebumps,” Billington remembered fondly. “Three months ago, they didn’t exist and now they’re national champions.”