It's Braxton Magic!

Bremen High School Senior Ameira Braxton may not have discovered the sport of cheerleading until the eighth grade, but her coach, Lauren Holliman, was quick to describe her as a “natural-born athlete.”

One day, Braxton’s cousin encouraged her to attend a summer cheer camp. At first, Braxton probably didn’t know what she was getting herself into. She didn’t have any experience and the camp was an attempt to try something new – an attempt that clearly paid off.

“When they lifted me up in the air for the first time it made feel so good,” explains Braxton. “I liked it. I like to fly. I didn’t even know the people, but I trusted them to lift me up.”

Today, Braxton is still flying high on the Bremen High School Cheer Team. While her coach says she was “quiet when she first joined the team,” she gives Braxton a lot of credit and remarked that her growth has led her to “feel comfortable in approaching her teammates and helping them.”

Helping people is evidently something that Braxton is passionate about both on the cheer mats and off. She plans to continue her studies at Florida A&M University next year and eventually become a surgeon.

As if one sport wasn’t enough, Braxton also competes in track. While track is more of an individual ranked sport, Braxton says she enjoys getting to be a part of a team as a cheerleader

This year, Braxton hopes to accomplish her personal goal of landing a full, which she describes as a “twist on the floor.”

While a twist on the floor might seem like a simple enough goal, Braxton will have to rotate her body 360 degrees in the air and then land on her feet. Can you imagine having the power to jump high enough off the floor that you have the time to twist a full rotation and land elegantly on your feet?

To us average folks, the idea of a full might seem like a far off fantasy or a feat that needs magic in order to be achieved.

Luckily, for Braxton, Coach Holliman says she is magic.

“If I had to describe Ameira in one word I would say ‘Magic.’ Anything I ask her to do she does it and then does it even better than I anticipated. She’ll try a new stunt and get it perfectly by the first or second try.”

With luck, you’ll be able to witness some of that Braxton magic in the near future. While winter sports are currently on-hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Braxton and her teammates look forward to getting back on the mats as soon as it’s safe to do so.

If you can’t catch a glimpse of her magic this year, then stay tuned for next year as she’ll look to land a spot on the Florida A&M Cheer Team where we’re certain she’ll continue doing big things and of course, flying high!