Ahead of the sold-out game against the Dallas Cowboys, the Jacksonville Jaguars' cheerleaders inducted the lucky children into the 'Junior ROAR Academy.'
After being presented with a Junior ROAR T-shirt and pompoms, the children were coached by 12 of the cheerleaders before taking part in a fully choreographed performance – and the youngsters could barely hide their delight.
The visit had extra significance for deputy headmaster David Pasola, who established a school cheerleading class as a way of encouraging more young girls to take up a physical and creative activity. A chance meeting at a Jaguars' event earlier this year resulted in a promise from the team that it would bring its cheerleaders to the school at the next available opportunity.
Mr Pasola said, "Cheerleading, in my school, I see as a way of our pupils achieving the highest standards they can personally and hopefully transition into the classrooms.
Cheerleading helps with their confidence, helps them with their expression and helps them develop an individuality still within a team environment. It was absolutely fantastic, I wanted the children to see that cheerleaders can still have a fantastic career and experiences."
Jaxson De Ville also made an appearance at the school before the Junior ROAR Academy got underway and cheerleader Hillary admitted she was mightily impressed with the attitude of the school children.
She added, "The girls were all brilliant. They were so keen to get involved and were a real pleasure to coach. I'm pretty sure by the amount of smiles on faces that they had as good a time as we did.
"All the girls in The ROAR of the Jaguars love being able to come over to London to meet our fans and engage with the kids to show them what cheerleading is all about. Community involvement is really important to the Jaguars and it's great we get to do it on both sides of the Atlantic. "We have a lot of fun but it is also important for us to teach them about healthy eating, exercise and also tell them about our lives outside cheerleading as our team is made up of girls balancing studies or jobs with their cheerleading duties."
