COMPETITIVE cheerleading team Rain Allstars is getting ready to move into a new practice space in Macmerry following success at this year's World Championships.

The group has trained at Musselburgh Sports Centre for the past seven years and has seen success in worldwide competitions, but head coach and owner Ross Barron hopes that having their own studio will benefit the teams’ performance. 

He said: “Year by year, we've gotten bigger and bigger.

“It was just time to start looking for somewhere else that we could call our own home.”

Ross submitted a planning application to East Lothian Council last month for a newly built unit in Macmerry Industrial Estate to be changed from industrial to leisure use.

Industrial work has already begun on the new studio, with the hopes of moving the 140 athletes into the new space by next month.

A special cheerleading sprung floor is already in the building, and a kitchen and toilet facilities will be installed this week.

Currently each team trains two hours per week, regardless of level, with athletes ranging from age five up to 32.

Rain Allstars' competitive cheerleading teams have seen a lot of success, with a team competing at the World Championships in Florida for the past three years.

This year, they had their best placing yet, coming fourth at the competition. 

Ross said: “Being a team that only train once a week, going against teams in America that train three or four nights in a week, is phenomenal.

“The new studio is going to make a huge difference. 

“Being able to just have those extra nights and weekends and not be restricted, just having everyone in to train whenever they want - it’s great, because it just means that the progression is much stronger.”

Ross and his teams are excited for this year’s competition season, after being offered two more bids to return to Florida in April 2025.