Cheerleading not the stereotype
Rebecca and Gerrin Moen are partners both on and off the stage.
The Mt Eden couple are heading to the World Cheerleading Championships in April and are ramping up their training this week with an elite summer camp at All Star Cheerleaders.
The young couple got together when Mr Moen came to New Zealand to coach in 2010. He was meant to stay for just a year but meeting Rebecca changed his plans.
‘‘What we’ve got is hard to find. We’re so lucky we’re always going to have that original connection of cheerleading.
‘‘We can help each other in training and celebrate the successes. It just gets us through,’’ Mrs Moen says.
The 24-year-old got started with the sport when she was 15.
At first she was reluctant because of the cheerleading stereotype pushed by Hollywood, she says.
She immediately found out just how wrong she was.
‘‘I was blown away. I thought it would be just like the movies but I had no idea.’’
The sport involves routines made up of stunts, tumbles, dancing and jumps.
It gets your blood pumping, Mrs Moen says.
‘‘It can be pretty scary. You just get the biggest adrenalin rush.
‘‘You have to really form a bond with people. If they’re going to throw you in the air you need to be able to trust them.’’
The chance to compete on the world stage is exciting but also a chance to change the cheerleading stereotype in New Zealand, Mrs Moen says.
She is competing in the all-girls and co-ed teams for New Zealand and All Star Cheerleading.
It will be her fifth year at the competition.
‘‘Everyone assumes just like I did, until they get to see it.
‘‘That’s why we love trying to get ourselves out there as much as we can, so the sport can grow here.
‘‘Worlds is a trip overseas to represent your country. Not many people can say they can do that in their lives.’’
Mr Moen, 25, got into the sport after starting out as a gymnast when he was 5. Ten years and many injuries later he moved into cheerleading.
He is competing in the coed teams for New Zealand and All Star Cheerleading this year and has been to worlds five times before.
‘‘Cheerleading is the last thing I thought I would do. When I was little I was always climbing around and getting into trouble so I was put into gym.
‘‘The technical skills from gym really paid off.’’