Allstar World Championship: Four cheerleaders aim for world glory

Four cheerleaders have said a lot of "blood, sweat and tears" have gone into their dream of competing at this year's Allstar World Championships in Orlando, Florida. Every Sunday, Orla McConnell, Karen Breslin, Clodagh McGonagle and Megan Moore make an eight-hour round trip to Dublin - all for a few hours on the mat honing their cheerleading routine. The quartet are part of Dublin-based cheerleading team Strikeforce Cheer heading to what is considered one of the sport's biggest international competitions. McConnell said balancing life as a mother of a one-year-old, working full-time, and a demanding cheer schedule has not been easy, but that it would all be worth it when their team performed. "We all wake up at about six in the morning," McConnell, 24, from Londonderry, told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme. "Karen and Clodagh come from Inishowen [in County Donegal] and collect me in Derry. "Then we go to Strabane to meet Megan and from there we head down to Dublin." Training lasts about three hours before they turn around and make the same journey home. It is a routine the four have repeated week after week, all in preparation for what has been a passion from an early