CHEERLEADING - National titles for Fantasy cheerleaders

Success for Whangarei's Fantasy Cheerleaders in recent national competitions seems set to breed growth in the club and hopefully earn more national titles next year, the club's director Toni Wright believes.
"The teams have trained so hard for these two competitions and they did me proud, they got more first places this year than last year's competitions and we have already started to re-structure the teams for next year's competitions," she said.
"Next year, we aim to bring even more national titles home, we will be taking six teams to competitions as we have had such a huge intake of new cheerleaders and obviously we are still welcoming more to join."
In total more than 100 cheerleaders from Whangarei competed in two competitions held at the end of October, with the Fantasy Shining Stars, aged from eight to 12, proving themselves the best team in the country.
At the first of them, the New Zealand Cheer and Dance Nationals in Auckland, four Whangarei teams were entered. The Fantasy Fairies (ages 5-7yrs), finished second, third and fourth in their respective competitions, while the Fantasy Shining Stars won two of their competitions and also finished third.
The Fantasy Junior Elite (ages 9-14 yrs) placed second and third but finished with a first in their final competition. The 12 and over Fantasy Senior Elite team finished with a third, a second and a fourth.
The club also had individuals and duets competing. Real Wright and Rebecca Birkich finished third in their duet competition, while Courtney Tomlinson and Katie Prestidge finished second and to top it off Courtney Tomlinson brought home the top prize for her individual performance.
With the Shining Stars also finishing first in their June regionals at All Star Invitationals and then again at the nationals, they were in the running to becoming New Zealand's Champion Junior Team but still needed to perform well at the All Star Cheerleading internationals on October 28.
Competition at the event was tight. There were over 50 teams competing including teams from Australia but the Shining Stars proved their ability with two firsts and a second to win their division to earn the title of Champion Junior Team in the country.
The Fantasy Fairies had a second, a third and a fourth, with the Fantasy Junior Elite claiming two seconds and a third and Fantasy Senior Elite also grabbing two seconds and a fourth.
The club is now working towards its annual Christmas Show at Forum North on December third and fourth, then after that the trials for the new teams and workshops during the holidays.
"We never stop for a break as among all this we are fund-raising to compete at the DownUnder Spirit Championships at the Gold Coast in June," Wright said.
"We have a fabulous team of girls at Fantasy Cheerleading and also parents that back their daughters all the way, we really could not win all these trophies and medals with out their support and dedication."
Caption details: A group of cheerleaders (from left front) Jordyn Rouse, Meri Jompero, Jacinta Geri and Rael Wright send Courtney Tomlinson skyward at a practice last week.