A Blaxland cheerleading studio has welcomed news competitive cheerleading has been “provisionally recognised” by the International Olympic Committee, meaning it’s on its way to becoming a recognised Olympic sport.
Natasha Shandler, the owner of Fanci Footwork Dance and Cheer, said the sport was growing astronomically and was a far cry from girls with their pom poms cheering by the side of NRL games.
“It is an empowering sport and it really is a team sport … with cheer you can’t substitute, everybody has a specific role,” Mrs Shandler said.
“It teaches kids how important they are. It teaches values of commitment and self-worth. Every single person is important.”
Members of the studio recently returned with a swag of awards at the national cheerleading championships.
Held on the Gold Coast late last month, the Australian All Star Cheer Federation National Championships were attended by more than 10,000 competitors and 15,000 spectators.
Travelling to the Gold Coast with five cheer squads, two stunt groups and two dance teams, the Blaxland studio were extremely successful.
The mini novice level 1 cheer squad retained their national champion title from last year’s championships, and the junior level 1 stunt group and senior level 1 partner stunt also picked up first place.
Junior hip hop secured a second, youth level 1 cheer a third, and open level 2 cheer was fifth.
Mrs Shandler was proud of all the studio’s competitors and said they worked very hard.
The cheer squads had 2.5 minutes to cram in as many stunts, tumbling techniques, jumps and dance routines as possible, and the stunt groups had one minute to showcase their best stunts.
