Cheer squad compete in QLD
Safety Bay Senior High School cheerleaders shook their pompoms at the Aussie Gold International Cheer and Dance Championships at the weekend.
The squad of 20 Cheer-Dance Specialist Program students, known as the Warriors, joined hundreds of cheerleaders from across Australia, New Zealand and Thailand at the championships.
Coach Melissa Wiltshire said it was the first squad at Safety Bay to make it to the international stage.
“We have one team selected from Years 9 to 11,” she said.
“It is the best of the best of the girls we have here.
“It was one of my goals in life, after I stopped cheerleading myself, to take a group from school to experience what I had, because it is on a different scale to a State competition, so they can feel the crowd and the energy as they perform on stage.”
Mrs Wiltshire said the girls competed in level three cheer, secondary pom, secondary jazz, hip hop and jazz duos.
Cheer captain Keila Wright, 16, said she had been in the cheer program for four years and was ecstatic to have the opportunity to compete at an international level.
“I’m a little scared because there are lots of other teams, but I’m excited because I haven’t been over to compete in cheerleading yet,” she said.
As the captain, Keila said it was her responsibility to keep the squad smiling, positive and energised for each routine.
The Warriors travelled to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre last Saturday.
After the championships, the Warriors will participate in a workshop with expert instructors from the US and then perform at Dreamworld.
Teams entering the event will have the opportunity to win a bid to compete at the 2015 IASF Cheerleading and Dance Worlds in Orlando in the US.
