Cheer squad
Tennis tragic Gareth Fletcher travels the globe cheering on our Aussie sports stars
tours
If it’s January, it must be Melbourne. Queenslander Gareth Fletcher’s calendar is marked with sporting events around the globe where he cheers on our Aussie athletes.
“This will be my 13th consecutive Australian Open,” says the 31-year-old pilot. “It’s one of the best tournaments in the world. None of the other tennis grand slams compare.”
Gareth, who played tennis as a child and went to his first Australian Open in 2007, reckons he’s spent close to $100,000 over the years following his favourite sports around the world.
“Some people like to spend their money on regular eggs Benedict and flat whites. I spend mine on sports travel,” he says, adding that last September he was in LA when John Millman heroically beat Roger Federer in the US Open. “I flew straight up to New York for a day just so I could be there to watch him in the quarter-final against Novak Djokovic,” says Gareth. “There was no way I was going to miss it.”
Over the years, Gareth has gotten to know some of our Aussie sporting heroes, including Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios, who he says is a “great guy”. Chatting to Woman’s Day right before the Australian Open began last week, he said he was particularly keen to see how Nick and Sydney International winner Alex De Minaur fared at the Australian Open.
“The players love the support,” says Gareth, who launched a cheer squad and tour group called We The People to share the excitement of sports events including the Davis Cup, Wimbledon, the Ashes and the Presidents Cup golf tournament.
Next year, We The People hope to hit up the Tokyo Olympics. “We’ll go along to cheer on as many Aussie players and teams as we can and have a good time, too,” says Gareth. But first, he’s leading the cheers at the Australian Open. “This is my favourite time of year,” he says.
While most tennis fans love We The People’s chants, songs and costumes, a handful thinks the group are too rowdy.
“Some fans want the Australian Open to be quiet, like Wimbledon, but a cheer squad brings the atmosphere,” he says.
“We’re always respectful, don’t heckle and we always cheer and chant at the appropriate times.”
‘A cheer squad brings the atmosphere’