By JESSE GRAHAM
YARRA Valley cheerleaders have been crowned as the best in their level, smashing the competition at the NCA All Star Cheerleading Nationals in Texas earlier this year.
From 19-21 February, Bayswater’s Outlaws All Stars competed at the American championship in Dallas along with 25,000 other cheerleaders in 1200 teams.
The Outlaws All Stars Sheriffs team consisted of 19 students, aged 12-18, and won the championship in the Level 3 Small Senior B division.
Their win, with a final score of 95.94, earned them a spot at an invite-only competition, The Summit, in Florida at the end of April.
Healesville’s Kirilly Galletti and Yarra Glen’s Lara Towning, both 14, were part of the winning team, which Kirilly’s mum, Susan Crossland, said was the first NCA All Star Cheerleading Nationals win by an Australian team.
“This is a history-breaking moment for cheerleading in Australia,” Ms Crossland said.
“It’s been a very proud moment for all of us, as parents, to see their hard work and dedication being rewarded.”
She said Kirilly and Lara had both been doing cheerleading for five years and that the team was in the USA for two weeks all-up, with a rigorous training schedule leading up to the competition.
Now that the team has been invited to The Summit, she said the cheerleaders were training three times a week to prepare, and were excited about heading back overseas.
“She (Kirilly)’s excited, nervous… but very excited to be going back and trying again,” Ms Crossland said.
“It’s the best of the best for America.”
Ms Crossland said the cheerleaders and their families were also fundraising for the competition, which runs from 30 April to 1 May, and had set up a crowdfunding page.
The GoFundMe page, www.gofundme.com/australiansheriffs, aims to raise $60,000 to cover the costs of travel and accommodation for the competition.
As of Wednesday, 30 March, $2100 had been donated by 26 people.
For more information about the Outlaws All Stars, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/outlawsallstars.
