HAYDEN MCGURK watches Jemma Ennis perch on top of a pyramid held together by the future Team Ireland. Thirteen-year-old Ennis is hoisted high in the air on the palms of her prospective teammates at a recent gathering in Celbridge, where more than 30 teenagers auditioned for the Irish Allstars Cheerleading Team.
The first time the words “Irish Cheerleading Team” registered in most Irish people’s minds was when the volcanic ash plume grounded flights across Europe last April. The team was prevented from flying to its first international championship in Florida. “We were devastated because we put so much work in,” says Shannon O’Reilly , one of the team. Although dance coach Amy Whitelambe adds: “We had so many people join after that, it was actually great.”
Whitelambe thinks cheerleading came to Ireland at the right time. " High School Musical 3was just out, and I know that's really pom pom waving and everything, but it's got the kids really interested," she says. Far from being glamorous, she sees cheerleading as a sport and says rules are paramount.
“Every squad is different. We don’t allow the girls wear make up or fake tan,” she says. Though this is standard practice in the US, “if they came to Ireland to compete, they’d have to follow our rules too and not wear any.”
The Irish Cheer Association was seat up as a voluntary organisation in 2003 by 24-year-old McGurk, a native of Manchester and former UK team member. He calls cheerleading “the sport of smiles”. “Cheerleading isn’t just one thing. There are categories of cheering, dancing and stunts.
“It’s a sport. You have to know your technique and put in the hours or it doesn’t work.”
Team Ireland Galway coach Fiona Cullen says: “In the States, it’s a lifestyle but it’s not quite there yet in Ireland. It’s compulsory training every Sunday regardless of anything,” she says. Galway and Derry train together for a minimum of six hours a week.
Jemma Ennis and her friends come from a sporting background and feel it helps their demanding six-day-a week training schedule. “I think positive instead of negative,” Ennis says. “If you work positive, you are positive. If you’re drooping, they don’t want you. If you are happy, they want you on the team,” she says.
School is difficult for her sometimes, though. People don’t understand that cheerleading is a lot of technical work, and not just kicking your legs in the air. I try and show them and tell them to join and see for themselves,” she says.
– Orla Tinsley
