The second Gauteng Majorette and Cheerleading Association (GCMA) competition for the 2024 season took place in Victory Park recently.
Within a season, this hotly anticipated competition is hosted at various schools across the city. This particular one was hosted at De La Salle Holy Cross College and more than 50 teams performed across the two sporting disciplines. A season includes five league competitions as well as two provincial championships.
The association’s chairperson Cindy Tiley said the aim of this competition, as with the remainder of their league competitions, is to allow teams to showcase their routines. “The feedback they receive from the adjudication panel based on their scores and placings, allows teams to better master their skills and further develop their routines.” According to Tiley, preparation for such an event needs an enormous amount of dedication and time and teams generally will practise on average, around 10 to 12 hours per week.
Technical elements go into judging both disciplines such as choreography, synchronisation and more. There were 18 categories to compete in, and all teams are said to have displayed standout performances.
“Spectators are always in awe at the high-level performance of all the athletes, from primary school level to tertiary level.”
There are three remaining league competitions in Gauteng, then it’s the Gauteng Provincial Championships on May 25 and June 1. Following this, teams will be putting in a big push to get ready to attend the South African National Majorette and Cheerleading Championships, to be hosted in Cape Town from September 21–28.
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