VIDEO: Notts gymnast Ruby Straw off to US cheerleading championships after talent is spotted online

A GYMNAST from Notts will compete in the world cheerleading championships in America in April after her talent was spotted on videos she posted of herself online.

WATCH Ruby in action

Ruby Straw

Ruby Straw, 17, posted videos showcasing her athletic moves on the social networking site Facebook and her talent came to the attention of professional cheerleading team the Aviator Allstars, in Leeds.

She had previously been training for her local cheerleading team in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

Then, three months ago, she received the call from the Allstars to join their troupe.

The Rushcliffe School student jumped at the chance.

She said: "It's quite lucky I put those videos online – actually, I don't think any of this would be happening if I hadn't.

"I'm thrilled to be performing at the world championships in Florida this April – it's going to be brilliant."

This won't be the first time Ruby has represented her country.

For the past five years, she has been competing at both a junior and senior level in artistic gymnastics.

Her flexible talents have led to her performing in countries around the globe, including South Africa, Italy, France and the Czech Republic.

Artistic gymnastics is a discipline where gymnasts perform short routines on different apparatus.

She said: "I have enjoyed it but I think I have reached as far as I can go with that and I wanted to try something new.

"Cheerleading is a lot more relaxed and there is a team of 20 of us.

"At the world championships, there will be teams from Thailand and Mexico there and it will be interesting to see the kind of performance they give."

Ruby is studying for A-levels in English, media and sociology.

But she says her dream is to carrying on cheerleading for as long as she can and eventually go into coaching the sport.

The 2013 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds competition has been going for 30 years and will be held on April 24 at the Walt Disney World Resort, in Florida.