Team Australia at the ICU World Championships: A Journey of Sweat, Spirit, and Success
Having just returned from a spending the last few weeks in Orlando, Florida, I have some thoughts.
1. Florida is VERY hot and humid in April, and I did not really appreciate that. The World Championships is held in a number of stadiums located at ESPN World at Disneyworld, this means lots of outdoor training, in long sleeved uniforms, in the direct sun in 30+ degree heat and 90% humidity, on hard packed grass and dirt.
2. Watching some of the worlds’ best athletes do their thing is the most awe inspirating and motivating things one can do. Seeing the girls from Team USA, Team Sweden and Team Finland perform skills that really defy all logic, and stand there on that podium was unbelievable. Australia is so physically removed from these teams that we watch from a distance over social media, so getting to meet these athletes feels rather surreal, we not only met our heroes, but competed against them.
3. Making finals is one of the best feelings ever. Only the top 10 scoring teams progress from Semi’s into the Finals – as a very new team to the Premier Division we knew that we would have to perform at our absolute peak to be included – and we did it!
Finishing the routine with a solid 3 high pyramid structure, knowing that we did what we set out to do was exhilarating. All the months of literal blood, sweat and tears had resulted in the performance we had been chasing since the start. Finishing the routine and hearing the crowd scream and roar, looking out and seeing our best friends from across the country (who are in direct competition) hugging each other whilst jumping up and down is indescribable. I cannot find the words to express that feeling. And that feeling is why we keep coming back, despite all the challenges and roadblocks we face getting there.
The burn of the lights, the echo of the stadium filled with cheers – there is nothing quite like getting to wear the green and gold, with “AUSTRALIA” spelled out across your chest and know that you did what everyone had been asking for. The 6am wake ups after 11pm bedtimes, the missing out on the last 6 months of my social life, the budgeting and stress, the travel, the injuries and bad days – maybe they were all worth it after all!
The day before we competed our coaches and the team organisers had pulled the team aside and dropped the bomb. Representatives from Australia’s’ Olympic committee were here, specially to watch us, to determine if cheer was a sport that might be worth backing for the Olympic games. Cheer has had provision Olympic status for a number of years now, meaning that it is in the pool of sports that can be chosen from to be added to the Olympic games – if ever given the opportunity.
Knowing that the likelihood of Cheerleading being an Olympic Sport was riding on our shoulders, on this performance, these 2 and half minutes of effort was humbling to say the least. There were 6 National Australian Cheer, and 6 Australian Dance teams and duos that competed at this competition, and being aware that the future of our sport on the Olympic stage was riding on this small subset of the tens of thousands of Australian cheerleaders back at home, let alone the next generations coming along over the next years, was huge.
But all we had to do was follow our training, we dug deep, fought through the small mistakes that would have crumbled us mere weeks ago, and put on two performances that we, and our country, were proud of.
Putting this experience into words is trying to catch a dream in a bottle. I spent the last 6 months of my life sacrificing and working harder than I ever have before, only for 4 minutes on that floor. Which, when staring at me written down in black and white text sounds insane, but the feeling of comradery, of achievement - its indescribable, and so totally worth it.