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Ten-year-old Ariya Park poses for a cheerleading photoshoot in an undated photo.

Courtesy The Park Family

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Ariya Park is pictured in an undated photo as a baby being held by her father during one of her treatments for an autoimmune disease.

Courtesy The Park Family

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Ten-year-old Ariya Park poses for a cheerleading photoshoot in an undated photo.

Courtesy The Park Family

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Ariya Park is pictured in an undated photo as a baby.

Courtesy The Park Family

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Ten-year-old Ariya Park poses for a cheerleading photoshoot in an undated photo.

Courtesy The Park Family

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Ariya Park may only be 10 years old, but she is already standing tall in the face of challenges. She is a fierce cheerleader who enjoys flying, tumbling and performing various stunts.

“I love everything about it,” Ariya said.

Her mother, Krysta Park, said it’s stunning to see Ariya display such courage during cheer practices and competitions.

“It’s just fun to see and she loves it,” she said. “She has absolutely no fear of being in the air.”

Ariya isn’t backing down from a national challenge either, as the young Saratoga Springs girl is currently a finalist in the “Youth Athlete of the Year” competition.

While a nationally recognized honor would certainly be welcomed by the Park family to complement Ariya’s hard work in cheer, most impressive are the obstacles she’s already endured and overcome.

At just nine months old, Ariya was diagnosed with stage one neuroblastoma cancer, which later progressed to stage four. 

After several rounds of chemotherapy, she was declared cancer free by the age of two.

Despite beating cancer, Krysta Park said Ariya suffers from an autoimmune disease that requires ongoing treatment.

“Everything’s just kind of got her in any which way that you can think of and it’s something we deal with on a daily basis for her,” she told the Daily Herald. 

Though Ariya’s health battle may continue to present its challenges, Krysta Park says it also underscores her daughter’s resilient spirit.

“She’s just learned from a young age to push hard and you know, to give it her all,” she said. “I mean, this was all her little body deciding to be healthy again.”

Ariya, who has been participating in cheer since the age of 5, said she loves how it challenges her to be her best and push through hard times.

With a potential national honor at stake, the Park family says her journey in the competition thus far is a testament to all of the hurdles Ariya has endured.

“It would be really cool for her,” Krysta Park said. “And to know everything she has gone through, and to still be up on top and winning — even though this (cancer) could have really knocked her down.”

For Ariya, she’s just grateful for the experience of being up for the award.

“It’s just about having fun and all that,” she said.

If chosen as Youth Athlete of the Year, Ariya will be featured in a 3BRAND ad in Sports Illustrated and awarded $25,000.

Votes can be submitted once daily at athleteoftheyear.org/2025/ariya-dfdf through mid-October.

Donations can also be made to the organizations V Foundation for Cancer Research and Why Not You Foundation, which counts toward votes.

In light of September being childhood cancer awareness month, Krysta Park said regardless if Ariya wins or not, she hopes her daughter’s journey sparks a sense of hope for others who continue to battle cancer.

“What I would like to say is to make sure everybody goes gold and represents and think of all those little warriors out there that aren’t as lucky as Ariya,” she said.