WATCH: Cheerleaders go from zeros to heroes
This underdog team was determined to swap their last place for a first, and they did.
Give me a B-E-S-T, what’s that spell? Best!
That’s exactly what the all-girls cheerleading team from Absolute Cheer and Tumbling (ACT) is, after cheering their way to first place at a national competition.
ACT Phoenix stood out with their well-executed routine at the South African Majorette and Cheerleading Association’s national competition, held in Oudtshoorn last month. The team, made up of 14 athletes, beat eight other teams in the competitive event.
This is quite an achievement for the young team. Just earlier this year, they came dead-last in their first competition.
“Fifty per cent of the team was new to cheerleading,” said coach Chris Wilding. Together with fellow Protea athlete and co-coach Stacey Hutchings, he whipped the team into shape. They trained twice a week for two and a half hours at Hoërskool Kempton Park. One week before the competition, they trained vigorously for seven hours every day.
“They were motivated to win and they put in the time and the effort,” Wilding said. He added that he and Hutchings wanted the girls to have fun above anything else.
“They love what they do.”
And what they do isn’t easy. Difficult stunts include girls being thrown in the air, where they have to do gymnastic tricks before their bases catch them again. Both the flyers and bases are equally crucial to performing a perfect sequence.
“There is a stigma that cheerleading isn’t a sport,” Wilding added, “but then again, we’re throwing humans in the air.”
He explained that a routine can be highly intense.
“In cheerleading, you only have two minutes and thirty seconds. You can’t afford to make mistakes. If you do, you have to bounce back.”
From the last place to being one of the best teams in South Africa, the ACT Phoenix team certainly did bounce back.
We call that a V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.
