Portrait: Mimosa Paldanius
SSC Blast claimed the right to represent Finland at the Junior World Championships from the World Championship qualifiers held in December 2021. The World Championships are held annually in April and so far, they have always been held in Orlando, Florida at Disneyworld (except for the virtual competitions in 2021.) Mimosa Paldanius was part of the team and won the World Championships silver in Orlando in April 2022. Mimosa told us about her experiences with the World Cup project and the World Cup competitions themselves.
Mimosa is a 15-year-old athlete from Kuopio and her club team was CSF Fierce (she was on Fierce last season, in the season 2022-2023 she is an athlete on Wild). She ended up with the sport during a school hobby day, where she got to know the versatile and exciting sport. 8 years later, she still loves the sport and there is no end in sight.
Mimosa is a 15-year-old athlete from Kuopio and her club team was CSF Fierce (she was on Fierce last season, in the season 2022-2023 she is an athlete on Wild). She ended up with the sport during a school hobby day, where she got to know the versatile and exciting sport. 8 years later, she still loves the sport and there is no end in sight.
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a versatile sport for everyone. Mimosa is a flyer, and her favorite part of the sport is basket tosses, where she is thrown into the air by her bases. In the air, the flyer performs various movements at a height of several meters, before landing back in the arms of the bases, to a cradle. In addition to basket tosses, cheerleading includes stunts, tumbling, cheer, and all of these are linked together by means of choreography, which includes various movements and dance elements. Mimosa is currently practicing the roundoff backhandspring full in tumbling, which is a demanding and technical skill in running tumbling.
In 8 years, Mimosa has been able to compete in several different competitions, in regional, national, and international level such as Spirit, Super, national qualifiers, nationals and world championship qualifiers and this spring also the World Championships 2022.
In 8 years, Mimosa has been able to compete in several different competitions, in regional, national, and international level such as Spirit, Super, national qualifiers, nationals and world championship qualifiers and this spring also the World Championships 2022.
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The way to World Championships
Mimosa's world championship season started in the summer of 2021. She already had her own stuntgroup together, with whom they trained independently before the start of the world championship project. Together with the stuntgroup, they noticed the announcement of tryouts for SSC Blast. They were looking for athletes for a new project team and the group was immediately interested. They started practicing their skills together and training for the qualifiers. Each of the four athletes got a place on the team and their journey together started towards the World Cup qualifying competitions in December 2021. The athletes of SSC Blast lived all over Finland, so the training was done mostly independently. Training together as a team took place at camps, which were arranged once or twice per month.
Self-paced training, which Mimosa's stunt group had already done before the start of the project, continued throughout the national team season. They trained 3-4 times a week and for the most part the training consisted of stunts and tumbling. Doing pyramids and the routine was limited to camps, because the whole team is required to do it. In addition to these practices, Mimosa trained in her own club team Fierce three times a week.
In December, Blast competed against three other national team project teams, Golden Spirit Junior All Girl, FSC & HAC Junior All Girl and NL Junior All Girl.The national team projects were either one club’s own or a collaborative project between two clubs, because for the first time in the World Cup competitions there were different age limits than in previous competitions or in Finnish club teams. In the past, juniors in World Cup competitions were 12-16 years old, nowadays juniors are 15-18 years old. This means that in Finland, those who are athletes in adult teams, can compete in the Junior World Championships. The age limit for adults is 15+ and those who are athletes in juniors are under 16 years old. Finland and Europe are probably gradually moving to new age limits, but during the season 2021-2022 the age limits still overlapped. (edit. for the season 2022-2023 Finland and the rest of Europe are changing to the new age limits for juniors.)
The best thing about the national team project for Mimosa was the team itself. Even though the athletes came from different parts of Finland and from different teams, the team's spirit was great, and they invested in it throughout the project. One of the team's strengths, Mimosa says, is the common goal: being crowned World Champions. Everyone was ready to do everything it took to achieve the goal. The best memories include all the new friends and the opportunity to compete at the highest level at the Junior World Championships. The World Championships were Mimosa's first international competition, which made the experience even more special. The most difficult and hardest part of the project was traveling from home to the camps, they took a lot of time and energy from the athlete's already full weeks.
Mimosa says that the biggest differences between the club and national team are the number of practices together and the skill level. Mimosa's club team competed in level 4 and the national team competes in level 5. The national team's program consisted of the most difficult level 5 skills. From those skills, Mimosa mentions the fronthandspring stunt and the second pyramid's rewinds and handstands as her favorite skills.
Self-paced training, which Mimosa's stunt group had already done before the start of the project, continued throughout the national team season. They trained 3-4 times a week and for the most part the training consisted of stunts and tumbling. Doing pyramids and the routine was limited to camps, because the whole team is required to do it. In addition to these practices, Mimosa trained in her own club team Fierce three times a week.
In December, Blast competed against three other national team project teams, Golden Spirit Junior All Girl, FSC & HAC Junior All Girl and NL Junior All Girl.The national team projects were either one club’s own or a collaborative project between two clubs, because for the first time in the World Cup competitions there were different age limits than in previous competitions or in Finnish club teams. In the past, juniors in World Cup competitions were 12-16 years old, nowadays juniors are 15-18 years old. This means that in Finland, those who are athletes in adult teams, can compete in the Junior World Championships. The age limit for adults is 15+ and those who are athletes in juniors are under 16 years old. Finland and Europe are probably gradually moving to new age limits, but during the season 2021-2022 the age limits still overlapped. (edit. for the season 2022-2023 Finland and the rest of Europe are changing to the new age limits for juniors.)
The best thing about the national team project for Mimosa was the team itself. Even though the athletes came from different parts of Finland and from different teams, the team's spirit was great, and they invested in it throughout the project. One of the team's strengths, Mimosa says, is the common goal: being crowned World Champions. Everyone was ready to do everything it took to achieve the goal. The best memories include all the new friends and the opportunity to compete at the highest level at the Junior World Championships. The World Championships were Mimosa's first international competition, which made the experience even more special. The most difficult and hardest part of the project was traveling from home to the camps, they took a lot of time and energy from the athlete's already full weeks.
Mimosa says that the biggest differences between the club and national team are the number of practices together and the skill level. Mimosa's club team competed in level 4 and the national team competes in level 5. The national team's program consisted of the most difficult level 5 skills. From those skills, Mimosa mentions the fronthandspring stunt and the second pyramid's rewinds and handstands as her favorite skills.
The World Championships 2022
The World Championships trip was unforgettable and especially competing at the Arena of her dreams crowned the experience. As for surprising elements, Mimosa mentions the size of the competition arena and the Football Field. Football Field is a grass field at Disney's All-Star Resort, built and decorated to look like an American football field. A showcase was organized on the field before the competitions, with the national teams of different countries showcasing their routines and cheering for each other. The Field is also a popular training ground and the world's best cheerleaders are practicing their new skills there. The competition arena is located in the ESPN Wide World of Sports resort. Mimosa describes ESPN and the Arena as an incredible competition venue and the competition was well organized as well.
In the competition, the team made a successful and strong performance, the best they had done all season, at the right place and at the right time. Before the competition, Mimosa was nervous, but on stage she was able to enjoy her performance to the fullest - after all, she was finally competing at her dream competition venue, representing Finland. The atmosphere in the arena is unique, one that can only be experienced on the spot. Finland's performance was rewarded with Silver, the World Championship title was won by the USA. The battle between the USA and Finland for the gold is familiar from the women's category. In the Juniors' category Finland was not far from the gold, the point difference was only 1.3 points. Mimosa says that at first the silver felt like a big disappointment, but with time the silver started to feel better. Mimosa is not sure about her plans for next season, but in the future, they include at least turning her silver into GOLD.
In the competition, the team made a successful and strong performance, the best they had done all season, at the right place and at the right time. Before the competition, Mimosa was nervous, but on stage she was able to enjoy her performance to the fullest - after all, she was finally competing at her dream competition venue, representing Finland. The atmosphere in the arena is unique, one that can only be experienced on the spot. Finland's performance was rewarded with Silver, the World Championship title was won by the USA. The battle between the USA and Finland for the gold is familiar from the women's category. In the Juniors' category Finland was not far from the gold, the point difference was only 1.3 points. Mimosa says that at first the silver felt like a big disappointment, but with time the silver started to feel better. Mimosa is not sure about her plans for next season, but in the future, they include at least turning her silver into GOLD.