LEWISTON – Cheering at an international sports competition is an endeavor that traditionally has involved cowbells and air horns.

Now you can add dance, somersaults and aerial stunts to the mix.

Amanda Scripture of Raymond is one of 60 men and women from across America – and the only one from Maine – involved in permanently changing that definition.

Scripture, 23, was chosen by the USA Federation for Sport Cheerleading to an all-female “Dream Team” that will compete Friday, April 24 in the inaugural International Cheer Union World Cup in Orlando, Fla.

“It’s scary because it’s the first one ever. That’s a big deal,” said Scripture, a graduate of Poland Regional High School and its competition cheering coach. “It’s still sinking in. I can’t believe I’m on the U.S. team at a world championship.”

Cheerleading has dominated most of Scripture’s life. It will occupy most of her April, too.

She’ll depart Sunday for two weeks of intensive training and practice in Kentucky before flying to Florida for the World Cup. Later that weekend, she’ll meet up in Orlando with her elite team from Planet Cheer and compete in the Cheerleading World Championship.

“We’re the first team from Maine that gets to go to that,” Scripture said. “It’s been a year of firsts for me.”

Scripture’s journey to the pinnacle of her sport began while she casually surfed a few cheerleading Internet sites last year. That’s when she learned about the USA Cheer auditions. One hundred fifty cheerleaders would be selected for the tryout pool.

Impressing the judges didn’t worry Scripture nearly as much as the stringent deadline. She had less than a week to get her resume and a demonstration tape in the mail.

“One night I got a friend of mine to tape it. Getting it done in one night was really nerve-wracking, because I couldn’t mess anything up,” Scripture said. “We sent it in. I had to wait a couple weeks and I got the invite to go down there and try out.”

Tryouts took place in Louisville, Ky., in January. Then, after the whirlwind process of getting there, Scripture was forced to hurry up and wait.

“I had to wait a month before they told me I made the team,” she said.

USA Cheer hopes the World Cup is a prelude to cheerleading becoming an Olympic sport.

Coaches and officials are lobbying for cheering to become a demonstration event at the 2012 Summer Games, with designs on it being sanctioned as a full-fledged medal sport by 2016.

“That’s why I think this is so great. It’s about time cheering took a step to compete internationally. I hope people will start to respect it more,” said Scripture.

She has come to terms with her status as a pioneer.

Just as the Olympic gymnastics competition is ruled by high school students and young women in their first year or two of college, cheerleading has a very small built-in window for international competition.

“Twenty-three is pretty old in cheering. Your peak is like 17,” Scripture said. “I have to work a lot harder to really do what I do, but it’s so worth it.”

Scripture cheers with two teams at Fortier Family Cheer Center, located in the lower level of Central Maine Athletic Center. She also tumbles twice a week on her own and runs up to four times per week.

“I love it,” she said. “It’s my life.”

Life in cheering began when Scripture was enrolled in her first gymnastics class at age 2.

She was forced to give up the competitive side of the sport five years ago, when she briefly attended school in West Virginia and then moved to Colorado for a short time.

Scripture’s longtime coach, Tiffany Fortier LeBrun, offered her the opportunities to coach and compete when she returned home.

“I took a little bit of time off when I wasn’t tumbling or anything, and I hated it,” Scripture said. “I’m super-competitive and a wicked perfectionist, so I missed that a lot. It’s my stress reliever and my passion.”

The stress level is about to kick up drastically, but Scripture doesn’t think the calendar will move quickly enough this week.

She’s looking forward to learning from renowned college coaches Jomo Thompson of Kentucky, James Speed of Louisville and Tony Nash of Morehead State, who will be overseeing the women’s squad as well as a coed team.

“We have opening ceremonies and an athletes’ reception. I’m going to be in a room with all these people from 40 to 50 different countries,” Scripture said.

Grateful to be a part of cheering history, Scripture said that merely making the first cut doesn’t satisfy her competitive nature.

“Now that I’m on this team, it’s not enough for me just to be on it,” she said. “I want to be one of the best.”

With the world watching. And cheering for her, instead of the other way around.