Reach for the stars

Malaysian cheerleading team got a taste of what it’s like competing in australia’s largest cheerleading competition.

The Awesome AllStars Malaysian cheerleading team did us proud at an international tournament in Australia.

THERE were 550 cheerleading teams, 6,000 cheerleaders, hundreds of organising staff, thousands of spectators and countless insane, gravity-defying stunts. In the middle of all that craziness, was a group of 25 Malaysians, all dreaming of doing their country proud.

The cheerleaders of the Awesome AllStars had travelled all the way to Melbourne, Australia for the 2013 Australian All-Star Cheerleading Federation (AASCF) National Cheer and Dance Championship, where they would come up against some of the world’s best athletes in the sport.

As the organisers of CHEER, the country’s biggest cheerleading competition, R.AGE was given a spot on that AirAsia X plane to Melbourne, where we were able to follow team Awesome’s incredible journey from semi-pro cheerleaders competing their hearts out in CHEER, to mixing it with the big boys (and girls) on the international stage.

And yes, they did do Malaysia proud.

Tough fight

For many members of the Awesome AllStars, the AASCF Nationals would be their first trip overseas. The talented team was formed just three years ago, by local cheerleading company Cheer Aspirations, and it was only their seventh competition together.

Nevertheless, most of the members had grown up competing in the fiercely-contested annual CHEER finals, so they know a thing or two about intense competition, and putting on a big performance when it matters most.

In fact, most of the team were 15 to 16year-olds still performing with some of CHEER’s best teams – Calyx from SM(J)K Katholik, Vulcanz from SMK Seafield, D*Starz from SMK (P) Sri Aman and Mickeymitez and Dynamitez from SMK Damansara Jaya, among others.

Team Awesome’s battle started even before the competition began. The cheerleaders searched high and low for sponsors, finally finding the perfect partner in AirAsia X, who put team Awesome on one of their two daily flights to Melbourne, and got them free accommodation at the spanking new Tune Hotel there, the first in Australia.

Intensive training started over a month before the competition, with coach Tan Yee Ming from Cheer Aspirations putting the

The awesome all-Stars attending a clinic by the australian all-Star cheerleading federation while they were in melbourne. They hope to bring back what they learnt to the malaysian cheerleading scene. The awesome all-Stars from malaysia doing us...