On Saturday, Alaska's Black Ice team will compete in the 2016 Cheerleading Worlds competition in Orlando, Florida, where they'll go head to head with some of the best cheerleaders from across the globe.
It's not the first time the team has made it to Worlds, but this time around the squad is favored to finish in the top three for their division, said Coach Leon Reynolds at a recent practice at Alaska Athletics gym in Midtown Anchorage.
"There's a reason why people talk about us potentially winning," he said. A few feet behind Reynolds, Black Ice members flipped through the air and stuck their landings, their white sneakers hitting the bouncy blue gym floor with a singular thud. "They work for it."