Real Life: Cheery girls taking over . . .
The box-office smash hit High School Musical has fuelled a new interest in cheerleading, but it's not all about pom-poms and smiling
Buzzing with energy: Lauryn Keogh (nine), a member of the North Dublin Wildcats, practises with team-mates Saoirse Nolan, Shannon O'Reilly and Nicola McHale. She will be representing the Irish cheerleading team in the US.
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SHE cartwheels down supermarket aisles, does the splits for fun and spends her spare time perfecting hand-springs and being tossed in the air by her team-mates.
Little Lauryn Keogh is a member of a small but steadily growing group -- the nine-year-old cheerleader is an all-Ireland champ and a member of the national team.
On top of that, she's currently preparing to represent this country in the Intenational Cheerleading World champion- ships in Florida this April.
"Sometimes it's hard, but you get to make friends and go to competitions and it gives you a good glow if you win," says Lauryn, a fourth-class pupil at Bayside Senior School, in Sutton, Dublin.
"I can do handstands, a back walk-over, and a front hand-spring. I like the stunts the most.
"They throw you up in the air and you do loads of back-flips in the air. I'm always the one that is being thrown because I'm very small and light. I do loads of practice at home and I even practise when we're out shopping!
"I love my costume -- it's in the Dublin colours of blue black and white, and you wear it with ankle socks."
Lauryn, from Clarehall, is one of around 500 cheerleaders in 20 teams spread around Dublin, Galway, Kerry and Belfast. They're a small group, but one that is growing in size, says her coach and director of the Irish Cheer Sport Association, Hayden McGurk.
Cheerleading is still relatively new to Ireland, admits McGurk, who is also head coach of the national cheerleading team, Team Ireland.
The Irish Cheer Sport Association was set up just last year, while the team established by McGurk -- the North Dublin Wildcats -- which has 65 members including Lauryn, was established as recently as 2008.
Growing
"Cheerleading in Ireland is still small, but it's growing as a sport," says McGurk, a former member of the 2003 UK National Cheerleading Team.
Cheerleading really only began in this country around a decade ago, he says, but the advent of influential films like High School Musical and Bring It On have helped to heighten its profile.
The decision by the Irish Cheer Sport Association earlier this month to set up the Republic's first-ever cheerleading camps in Dublin and Cork later this year will also help to promote the sport, he believes.
"There's growing interest among girls in cheerleading as a result of these films.
"It's a new sport and many of them love it when they try it. The camps will help to bring cheerleading into the mainstream for members of the public.
"In the UK there are currently around 20,000 cheerleaders registered, from a level of about half that 10 years ago.
"It's like a snowball, it will keep going. I expect to see the numbers in Ireland more than double within the next five years."
Anyone who believes
cheerleading is little more than shaking pom-poms should think again. Lauryn trains hard: twice a week with the North Dublin Wildcats, including a five-hour session on a Saturday as well as three hours of national team cheerleading training on Sundays.
"It's not all about pom-pom waving," says McGurk. "Cheerleading requires a very high level of fitness, stamina and endurance -- in Malaysia for instance there are all-male cheerleading teams. It is quite female-dominated in western Europe at the moment, but in the UK there's a growing number of male cheerleaders."
Cheerleaders -- who range in age from five to people in their 30s -- face an ever-increasing requirement for stamina, endurance, team work, fitness and flexibility as they progress.
"Generally it's very sports-orientated and requires a high skill level. For girls, there are huge benefits in fitness, agility and physical skill levels, such as tumbling, dancing, acrobatics, jumping," explains McGurk.
"It's also a big confidence-builder because of the strong support base with the team. It's a very sociable sport -- the girls make and meet lots of friends from different backgrounds.
"I have yet to meet a team here that just stands around shaking pom-poms."
As in the USA, there are two aspects to cheerleading Irish-style: the show or performance element, and the competitive side. "There are the pom-dance routines in front of football games and at festivals and community events and openings but the cheerleading teams also do competitions," explains McGurk.
The North Dublin Wildcats train twice a week at Westra Community Hall in Finglas and have performed regularly at Bohemians' football games.
While the season for most Irish cheerleading teams lasts from September to July, NDW members train all year round.
Their distinctive outfits, comprising above-the-knee split skirt, long-sleeved body-liner and a shell carrying the team logo are becoming well-known in the Dublin area as their profile grows and their array of awards increases.
The hard work is paying off too. Last October they came home from the all-Ireland Cheerleading Championships as the Junior National Champions.
The previous April, the North Dublin Wildcats won both second and third prize in the Northern Ireland Cheerleading Championships.
Underdogs
Along with four other team-mates from the NDW, Lauryn will represent Irish cheerleading for the first time on the international stage on April 24 next, competing against performers from 80 nations, including the USA, the UK, Japan and Australia at the International World Cheerleading Championships in Disneyworld, Orlando.
"We'd be the underdogs in this competition to be honest, because of the relative new-ness of the sport in Ireland," says McGurk.
"But it's a fantastic opportunity for the children and it will give them a once-in-a-lifetime experience -- win or lose, this is going to be unforgettable!
The cost of the trip is estimated at about €1,200 per child for flights, accommodation, transfers, uniforms and tracksuits.
Children must be accompanied by at least one parent and if two parents go, says McGurk, the price shoots up.
"It's quite a lot of money in these times," he says, pointing out that fund-raising is crucial," he says.
"Outside of the fact that we have a recession, the relatively low profile of cheerleading in this country has made it more difficult to obtain financial support."
So it's set to be a spring of bag-packing and cake sales for Lauryn's Mum, Wendy Keogh (28), who is already helping to plan a series of fundraisers for the North Dublin Wildcats team.
It will cost about €3,500 for Wendy and husband Shane to accompany Lauryn to Florida but they're determined to go, says Wendy, who encouraged Lauryn to begin cheerleading from around the age of seven.
"She's a very athletic child, and does gymnastics and dance. The cheerleading is a bit of everything. It combines all of her skills and is very fast moving.
"She absolutely lives and sleeps and breathes cheerleading," says Wendy.
"She's constantly practising the different movements. Even when I'm doing the shopping in the supermarket, she does cartwheels down the aisle."
Lauryn adds: "I hope we win in America. We're up against every main country in the world and some of these countries have 60 teams -- we've only got two!"
www.cheerleading.ie Hayden McGurk -- 086 2192815
- Ailin Quinlan
Irish Independent
