Wednesday 25 October 2017 13:50, UK
The list of contenders for the Vitality Team of the Year prize at Thursday's Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year awards contains two world champions.
Almost everyone has heard about the success of the England women's cricket team, a packed house at Lord's roared them to victory in a thrilling final with India.
However, the triumph of Team Wales at the Cheerleading Worlds in April in the ParaCheer category is an unlikely tale for a team that came together just months before the event took place.
Sky Sports spoke to coach Sabrina Steele on how hard work, dedication and no little skill took them to a sensational world title.
"It all started when the ICU (International Cheerleading union) decided to open ParaCheer categories at the World Championships this year," she said.
"A charity called ParaCheer International have been working very hard to get Para categories open so when we heard about it we decided to jump in.
"Team Wales competes almost every year at the World Championships but obviously had not competed in a Para category before, so with it open we thought let's go ahead and do it."
An event in its infancy meant Sabrina, a former professional dancer from the US who now lives in Wales with her family, the rest of the coaching team, as well as the committee, had to put a team together.
For a Para event, there was clearly a very different recruitment process to start.
Steele said: "It proved to be quite difficult as we initially had trouble recruiting enough disabled athletes so it took months to get the athletes together.
"We were very lucky the Disability Sport Wales were so supportive in helping us to get the word out there for people to know what we doing and to think 'I can go and do this.'"
Amazingly, with the Cheerleading Worlds in Orlando in April, Team Wales, who started from scratch in January, were ready to go.
"At the 11th hour we were able to get together enough disabled athletes to make a team - it was touch and go whether we would be able to do it all," Steele said.
"From there we were lucky that we had established dancers from our national team who wanted to join in with the Para team to support that and we were ready to go."
Understandably, a host of effort went into a frantic three-month period as new dancers got up to speed and established dancers and coaches offered their own time to achieve that.
"There was so much hard work especially on the side of our newer girls, some of our disabled athletes who had never competed at all," Steele added.
"Some of the girls have lots of international experience and compete all the time - so the blend was great as those with all that experience took it to the girls with none to help them as much as possible.
"We had a session every week where I would have a session with the girls who had never competed and it was drill, drill, drill! And then girls who had been on teams for years would come along to those sessions just to help - they did not have to be there but they came to ensure we were going to be successful as a team.
"So throughout everyone was there to help each other out and in so many ways that was the success.
"It was then so exciting when we found that yes we would be able to go. We knew some girls were already to going to compete in other categories so that gave us a backbone and made everyone else feel confident but it was so late that some of us had to stay at different hotels!
Team Wales took to the stage in Orlando April to compete, and win gold, in the ParaCheer Freestyle Pom category at the showpiece event.
"Sports Cheer Wales auditioned the girls, which were slightly different as what we wanted to do was just get a team together first but also make sure they met the qualifications from the ICU," Steele said.
"We went there without expectation other than we are so happy to have got a team together and be part of this new category.
"In competition sometimes things just come together and I can say they did the routine the best they have ever done it.
"We took the floor and I was nervous for those who had not competed before, especially in a big competition. Everyone was so excited, so proud to represent their country that they put a brilliant routine on the floor and absolutely nailed it.
"It was the first year of Para competition and scoresheets. When we came off the floor we were happy but cheerleading is judged by a panel. With our cheerleading experience, we did what we felt would do well but with no idea how they would judge the Para category.
"In cheerleading you do not know your score until after all of the scores come out. All the teams that get a medal are called to the floor and then you wait! It's not like other sports and it's very exciting to stand there and wait to hear the announcement.
"When they called the silver we knew we were getting gold but until they called that silver we did not know so the excitement came when they called the second place."
The next stop in this journey is Thursday and the glitz and glamour of the Hilton Bankside where Team Wales will go up against the England cricket and rugby national teams as well as the Great Britain 4x100m and 4x400m relay squads from London's World Championships.
"We were so shocked to be nominated and we feel like we are on a roller-coaster ride that we are so excited to be on," Steele said.
"It's an under recognised sport despite a huge number of children and adults who are competing - and with disability sport being recognised on the same scale as non-disability sport it is fantastic across so many levels for us.
"Eight of us are attending and I cannot say enough about how overjoyed we are to have been nominated, not just for us but for disability sport and for cheerleading."
Whatever Thursday's outcome, it's hard to think any of the other four Team of the Year contenders will have come as far as Team Wales to have reached the pinnacle of their sport in so little time.
You can watch coverage of the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards in association with Vitality on Thursday from 8pm with live coverage underway on Sky Sports Mix, Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Main Event
