ORLANDO, Fla. — For the second straight year, and in only its third year of existence, Ocoee's Top Gun Revelation cheerleading squad is a world champion. 

"This team has literally come so far in two years, actually it's been 3 years since they've existed, so seeing all the growth and seeing all the new bonds and friendships formed, it's incredible," Top Gun Revelation coach Adrian Butler said.

Butler says competitive cheerleaders always push for more greatness, and Top Gun All Stars of Orlando boasts some of the top talent in the country at its Ocoee facility. Butler said he spent many years in the gym, but wanted to level up by creating a Senior Open Large Coed team, which he named Revelation. 

"It is just eat, sleep, breath Revelation," said Windermere High School rising junior and Revelation flyer Cayden Cox. 

With nightly intense practices, Revelation is a lifestyle for these cheerleaders. 

"A lot of learning how to push through anything because there's some really hard practices," Cox said. "But at the end of the day, if you’re here, you know what you want and the goals that you wanna accomplish with the people you love. It's all worth it in the end."

That's the commitment it takes to be a champion.

In April, team members' commitment paid off at the Wide World of Sports at Disney, which hosted the U.S. All-Star Federation (of cheer and dance) World Championships. Top Gun Revelation represented the hometown of Orlando at the global event. 

"We were definitely very confident going into it," Cox said. "Whenever we bump out of our stunts, we like to say, ‘We will be world champs’ — kinda putting it out there that we know what we want, we’re working for it."

In the finals for its division — L6 Senior Open Large Coed — Top Gun Revelation came out on top again. However, the team's score of 147.15 was the highest among all categories at worlds this year, upgrading its title to Grand World Champions.

In order to find success at such a high level, Butler said there is one important key.

"Heart. It takes your heart. It takes everything, your whole being," Butler said. "You have to give your all, give yourself to cheerleading." 

Cox is one of the youngest members, as she is still in high school, but she is described as the heartbeat of the team. She is one of the few Revelation original members who has been part of the team since it formed three years ago, but she grew up in the Top Gun All Stars gym.

"I was homegrown, so ... I was lucky enough to have this team be made and do as well as it did and meet the people I did," she said. "But other people definitely had to make a lot of sacrifices to come here."

Butler said every athlete has a different story.

"Some of them move their whole lives here to be on this team, and over the years, we just derived that culture of hard-working athletes that when they come here, they wanna be a champion," Butler said. "And that's just the winning, loving gym culture that we've created." 

Top Gun Revelation, which just concluded its tryouts for the 2023-24 season, now has two trophies, a bunch of talent and heart, and they do it all together as one family.

"It's like an escape from reality almost," Cox said. "It's just the sense of family I get when I come here."

"This team provides a sense of family for these kids," Butler said. "At the end of the day, they know when they come here, they have us. They have undivided support all the time."