PILOT MOUNTAIN — After a whirlwind Saturday, the East Surry Cardinals co-ed cheerleading squad and coach Bryan Hall finally got the recognition they traveled to Orlando, Fla., and Walt Disney World to chase.

Beginning its day at 9:45 a.m. with the first-round of competitions, the squad didn’t know its final place until near 10 p.m. Saturday.

But after five months of preparation and countless hours of practice, it was worth the wait.

The team was pegged 11th out of 20 co-ed team finalists at the Walt Disney World Cheerleading National Competition in the Sunshine state in the small varsity division in its first-ever trip into the final round, no small feat for a team which has been in existence for only three short years.

The “small varsity” division in which the Cardinals compete in no way derives its name from the size of the schools taking the stage, but from the size of the team itself (no more than 20) and its number of male members (no more than four).

“It is phenomenal,” Hall said of the finish. “(Making finals) has always been a coaching goal of mine, and even when I started coaching 12 years ago, I wanted to be able to coach a team to the national level. I didn’t want to force my goal on the team, but I felt like if they reached their potential, they could compete on that level.”

Hall said the finish could not have been possible without this season’s particular mixture of talent and personalities which meshed to achieve the special outcome.

“This group of kids just worked their tails off,” he said. “They all improved their skills throughout the season. The four boys did collegiate-type stunts and all the puzzle pieces came together to make everything work. If we are missing any one of those puzzle pieces, it would not have happened.”

The Cardinals’ first trip to the national competition in the co-ed division was in 2007, where they failed to reach the finals.

Their return in 2008 was uncertain, but after several of the male participants pushed for it, Hall decided to keep the co-ed team and continue to try for a national final berth.

Hall said after taking in the park on Friday, Saturday was a nerve-racking and extremely-long experience.

“We were just having fun in finals,” Hall said. “Now Saturday morning for semifinals, I was very nervous and sick because we had put in five months of work for two-and-a-half minutes. If one thing went wrong, we probably weren’t going to make finals and at that point, as a coach, you have no control. It’s different from coaching softball where you can make a change in between innings. Once that music starts, you have two-and-a-half minutes and you have to hope that you are prepared and ready to go.”

The trip to the final 20 gives the squad the opportunity to be shown on ESPN’s coverage of the national competition along with a trophy, but Hall said just the feeling of being chosen out of the 38 co-ed teams to participate was reward enough.

He said he is certain the real reason his team was able to be considered among the best in the nation was because this season’s fantastic team chemistry.

“I don’t know if I’ve had a team top to bottom that has gotten along like this,” Hall said. “They were free from a lot of drama and were able to do good things. Joe Reid Denny was a really strong leader on football and Markus Brown was a strong leader in wrestling, and those guys bring those team concepts to cheerleading and that makes the girls work harder. The girls make less excuses because they know the boys don’t want to hear it or won’t tolerate it, and it makes everyone push harder to get where you need to get to.”

While the long chartered bus ride back was no doubt easier to stomach because of the outcome, it is certain the participants and their families who made the long and hard trip to the “Happiest Place On Earth” will never forget their rollercoaster weekend of triumph.

Contact Thomas Smith at tsmith@mtairynews.com or 719-1920.