Seeing as the annual sports carnival is currently underway here at KDU, The Local Scene has decided to kick off our weekly blog with – you guessed it – sports! It might not be a traditional sport known by all, but it’s a sport nonetheless, full with dedication and hard work. It's, drumroll please, cheerleading!
When the word "cheerleading" is mentioned in Malaysia, most either have no idea what it is or think of girls with short skirts prancing around with pompoms. What they don’t know, is the fact that these teams of 16 or more athletes do strength work like any other sport to train their strength and stamina, all for a routine lasting a total of 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
In the past decade, cheerleading in Malaysia has vastly improved due to the annual high school national competition, CHEER. It is a fairly popular event amongst high school students, but the public barely knows about the teams who are representing Malaysia for international competitions – All-Stars teams.
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| Hero All-Stars executing the pyramid in their routine. (Hero All-Stars, 2014) |
"Cheer is actually a tough sport but most people don’t see that, which is quite sad," Sandy Tey, an All-Stars cheerleader, responds when asked about what cheer is like. "Because we go through so much blood, sweat and tears just to get the champion title."
In the recent decade, dedicated participants of cheerleading have started building their own companies from scratch to provide coaching services, performances for events and of course, starting up their very own All-Stars teams, which include The Rebels, Cheer Aces All Star, Awesome All-Stars, Hero All-Stars, Mickeymitez All Star, Bullets All Star and more. These companies send their teams to compete in both local and international competitions, the latter of which includes but is not limited to Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Australia.
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| Awesome All-Stars with their award in Australia. (JC Lam, 2014) |
Whilst the thought of going abroad to compete and representing Malaysia sounds cool, these cheerleaders have to fork out their own cash for flight tickets, accommodation and meals for these international competitions. Why, you ask? It’s simply because it's still not a well-known sport within the community.
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| Partner stunts: when a flyer balances herself on one arm of the base, the stunt is called a cupie. (Sandy Tey, 2015) |
When asked about the hardest part of cheerleading, Sandy replies that it's mostly money issues. "Cheer attire could cost up to MYR300 per person, and usually, if a team wins the competition, the prizes aren't cash, but only medals and trophies."
Cheerleading sounds like a financial burden, doesn't it? MYR300 solely for a uniform; how could this sport possibly be worth it? The answer to that is simple - passion. "The love for performing and showing off the skills that you took ages to perfect," Sandy finishes proudly. "That's what keeps us going back for more even though there are so many drawbacks."
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| An advanced-level partner stunt. (Evy Tan, 2015) |
Malaysia might not be the best in cheerleading, but hey, they are definitely improving and setting standards within the country by going all out. These youngsters are determined to show their homeland that this sport is worth the attention.
The public, on the other hand, should try seeing them as athletes and not stereotype them with "the girls want attention and the boys are feminine, just saying". Honestly speaking, I’d pay to see these judgemental people attempt to lift someone with one arm or toss them up about 30 feet into the air and catch them again.
I mean, I’m just saying.
There are plenty of underrated competitive physical activities in Malaysia, and cheer is just one of them! Stay tuned next week for a glimpse into a form of art much like cheer, and the tough, exhausting effort that goes into pulling off aesthetics that will wow you.
Bibliography
Hero All-Stars Facebook Page. (2014). Hero All-Stars executing the pyramid during their routine [Online image].
Retrieved 26 September, 2015 from https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11138561_883872948338929_8238118790206564420_n.jpg?oh=cb36a3681ef7a019ce84863d0b7a8f84&oe=5691F3E1&__gda__=1452958423_71940fa7081c6b4e1d33b889ee895057
Lam, JC. (2014). Awesome All-Stars with their award in Australia [Online image].
Retrieved 26 September, 2015 from http://rage.com.my/flying-high/
Tan, Evy. (2014). An advanced-level stunt for partner stunting [Online image].
Retrieved 26 September, 2015 from
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10885191_1029779003705954_1867873458730592599_n.jpg?oh=438d487b73c352347f998b6138e37b53&oe=569ABB32
Tey, Sandy. (2015). An example of partner stunts: when a flyer balances herself on one arm of the base, the stunt is called a cupie. [Online image].
Retrieved 26 September, 2015 from https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1903001_10153234929164038_3645410310386231693_n.jpg?oh=87f406c5a1bb69a371138feb98b7efe1&oe=568A919C
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