All Star Cheerleaders director and head coach, Kimberley Ramsay, says cheerleading has evolved from entertaining blokes and supporting teams at sporting events to being a competitive sport in itself.
Her teams rarely cheer on the sidelines of rugby games and prefer to concentrate on perfecting routines for national and international competitions, she says.
"Some of the things these guys are doing is what you see in the Olympics' gymnastics," Ramsay says. She says the International Cheerleading Union has applied to be recognised as an official sport that can compete in future Olympics.
Two of the All Star Cheerleaders' top squads, Team New Zealand All Girl and Team New Zealand Co-ed, came second at the world championships in April after beating 70 other teams who dubbed the Kiwis the "dark horses of cheerleading".
Sadly, they didn't get half the recognition back home that the Super Rugby cheerleaders receive each week. "There are two styles of cheerleading - being on rugby sidelines is more old-fashioned and it has evolved into an athletic, acrobatic sport," Ramsay says. "We don't even use pom-poms or go 'rah, rah, give me an A'."
Whether cheering competitively or in support of another team, she says the girls are constantly fighting the stigma of being scantily clad dancers who love to party.
It didn't help that rival coach Nikola Michael Marinovich was arrested and charged with having sex with a 14-year-old cheerleader, as revealed by the Herald on Sunday.
Marinovich, the executive director of Total Cheerleading, was charged with doing an indecent act, attempting sexual connection and having sexual connection with one of his cheerleaders. He was also charged with sexually violating another young cheerleader. The 25-year-old was also accused of night-clubbing with the cheerleaders after he posted photos on Facebook of himself getting drunk with the girls.
Total Cheerleading has now shut up shop, according to the Cheerleading Association.
RAMSAY, WHO is also president of the New Zealand Cheerleading Association, says her cheerleaders socialise together to build "team spirit" but coaches and alcohol are not involved.
"Like with any team sport, you have to have a really good bond in the team for them to do well so, in cheerleading, it's called team spirit. The girls are quite close and we work hard on having good team spirit," Ramsay says.
"We don't have coaches socialising with cheerleaders. That shouldn't happen in any sport, especially with male coaches."
She says affiliated clubs follow a strict code of ethics that forbids relationships with students.
The coaching contract states: "Relationships with cheerleaders you teach must be professional at all times. Examples of inappropriate interactions could include, but are not limited to: supplying alcohol, cigarettes or illicit substances to cheerleaders, sending text and Facebook messages and emails unrelated to cheerleading, engaging in sexual relationships with cheerleaders and gossiping or being negative about other All Star staff or cheerleaders."
THIS WEEK I joined the All Star Viperz squad during a training session to see what cheerleading has become since its inception in the 1800s.
I stand in front of the wall mirror next to 22 cheerleaders and feel my self-esteem shrink. I'm dressed in unfashionable black lycra leggings and a well-loved peach Italian cotton shirt that survived my travels through the dusty plains of Africa.
I do, however, have a bouncy long straight ponytail just like theirs - minus the pink sparkly bow.
"Do not cheat, girls. You're not doing it for the coaches, you're doing it for yourselves," Kimberley shouts before a round of tumbling.
Co-coach Gerrin Moen tells me to jump in the air, bringing my knees to my chest, while the girls do impressive back flips. My self-esteem takes another beating and I start to think my participation is a waste of time.
Breathless and sweaty, the girls grab a quick sip of water before getting into stunt groups to practise lift techniques.
Lifts are stunts where girls, known as flyers, stand on the hands of their team mates posing in difficult positions before spinning, flipping or flying down into their arms. It is the same technique and skill used to build human pyramids which help gain points in competitions.
The coaches put me in a group which has been stunting together for only two months.
The eldest of the team, Rebecca Norton, 23, is one of three lifters who help create a base for their 50kg flyer Ashleigh Best, who is only 16 years old.
Norton, who would struggle to reach 1m 50cm, says although they have been together for only a couple of months the group have a strong bond - both mental and physical - which is critical to successful lifts.
"It's all about the clique, and once you get that it all just comes together," Norton says.
The other lifters who stand at the base in the triangular shape are Chelsea McMillan and Alyssa Raynes, who are aged 15 and 19 respectively.
McMillan steps aside while I take her position and learn how to lift, and then catch, without dropping the flyer and causing serious injury.
The pressure is on, but the coaches and my teammates boost my confidence and assure me that safety is a large part of learning how to cheerlead.
"We learn how to fall properly but if someone does we always go for the head and upper-body, just forget about the feet."
We start with the so-called easy "elevator" which involves cupping our hands together in front of our belly buttons to create a platform for Best's feet. We then lift her high into the air before letting her go and catching her fall.
It's a success, and I move straight into the more advanced lifts including the "full down" where the flyer does a parallel double spin (I'm told it is usually a triple) on her way down.
It's scary stuff but these petite girls aren't fazed.
Apparently, things are going so well the coaches are confident I can lift 19-year-old flyer Michelle Williams with another person supporting her balance. At this point I appreciate the many winter mornings I forced myself out of bed to pump weights at the gym.
But I quickly learn the pressure is actually on the flyer, who has to tense her body to remain as still as possible while standing on one leg in our hands, 2m high in the air.
The squad wrap up their training by going over a physically demanding and risky routine that they hope will take first place at the Australasian majors in November.
Call me naive, but I thought cheerleading was all about ditzy girls waving pom-poms in cute outfits, spelling out team names..
I was wrong. This is one sport I will be cheering on in the future.
