Posted: Friday, March 26, 2010 --- 4:30 a.m.

In today's Family First, we're giving a big high five to a group of girls who have won national honors, but still don't get the simple honor of being called athletes by many.

So we figured we'd show you why they really are.

The youth in the junior all star cheer teams at all Madtown Twisters in Madison recently won national championships.

This has been part of the program at Madtown for about five years now.

The youngest are four, all the way up to seniors in high school at 18.

They practice, hard, several nights a week and become serious athletes when they're done!

" To be able to lift another person into the air and tumble the way they tumble and dance the way they dance it takes a lot of athleticism. And anybody who says it's not a sport, they really should come in and try it."

"We have a lot of girls who come in very shy and leave very not shy... outgoing. Self esteem goes through the roof. It's really helps them to get in front of a crowd and perform, be able to do that."

The All Star Cheer teams at Madtown Twisters take everyone who signs up.