cheerleading in Australia

The tradition & historical record

In Australia, competitive cheerleading is a minor sport, seeing over a 10,000% increase in athlete participation between 2000 (at which time there were 23 athletes recognised in 3 teams by the Australian Cheerleading Association) and 2022 (11,800 athletes in 1,900 teams entered in the 2022 AASCF Nationals). This growth happened through a 15–20% increase in participation each year between 2006 and 2016. The early 2000s saw Gymnastics Australia act as the sport's governing body, as they hosted the first competitive cheerleading nationals in 2002. However, 2018 saw a new era for the sport, with Gymnastics Australia stepping down as the governing body after the Australian cheerleading community vocalised that they felt the sport was being mismanaged by an uninvolved governing body. This new era of Australian cheerleading has seen the Australian Cheer Union and Australian Cheer Sport Alliance both provide oversight to cheerleading within Australia; however, there is currently no formally recognised governing body by Sports Australia after both organisations saw their applications rejected as of early 2023. While prior to 2000, the public primarily viewed cheerleading as the pom and dance style that was displayed by squads for the NRL halftime shows, it is worth noting that cheerleading and pom are considered distinct sports. ¹

Prior to 2000, cheerleading was primarily known as the dance-and-pom style displayed by professional cheer squads for NRL rugby. This was introduced to Australia in 1985 by Rosemary Sims in Victoria Australia for the National Basketball League, moving into other sports in subsequent years. The US movie Bring It On (released December 2000 in Australia) popularised acrobatic-style cheerleading, and has been credited with sparking subsequent development as a competitive sport. During the 2000s and 2010s, the style of cheerleading seen as pre-game and half-time sideline entertainment at professional hurens matches continued to attract criticism for objectifying women, and some clubs discontinued their cheer teams. For example, the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2013 announced they would cease their relationship with the studio contracted to provide their cheer team, the Belles. The next day, when journalists sought comment from other football clubs, the chief executive of the Canberra Raiders stated that they were "reviewing the club's game-day entertainment". He denied the move was based around any female exploitation, rather citing cost as a factor. As of 2019, most clubs have dropped cheerleaders. ¹

In 1995, established dance teacher, Rosemary Sims, established Australia's first ever Cheerleading Levels program and syllabus for students at her Dancer's Edge dance studio. Rosemary Sims also worked with Kerry Perry to organise and operate the Dance Victoria Select Troupe Championship, with over 2000 competitors, which included the first competitive cheerleading within Australia. Rosemary Sims went on to undertake extensive coach education from U.S. based cheerleading industry leaders on the technique and choreography of all star cheer and dance from 1997, introducing AACCA safety accreditation into the Australian cheerleading industry. This education led to the cheerleading syllabus being revised once again in 1999 to incorporate safety elements from the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors. ¹

Competitive all-star cheerleading developed in Australia during the 2000s and 2010s, growing rapidly as a sport, seeing a growth from only 3 teams recognised by the Australian Cheerleading Association in 2000 to more than 200 by only 2004. ¹

Zoe Ross founded the Australian Cheerleading Association in 2000, with three recognised cheer teams. This organisation of the sport led to Gymnastics Australia hosting a National Cheerleading Camp on the Gold Coast during January 2001. During 2001, Rosemary Sims within her role running Cheerleading Victoria overhauled her cheerleading syllabus once more, working with gymnastics coach and adjudicator Debbie Inkster to develop the gymnastics elements of the program. Debbie Inkster had previously been part of the team at Knox City Council's Gymnastics Centre that enabled it to become the first Australian gymnastics centre to meet International Quality Assurance certifications in 1996, as well as being responsible for the overall development, coordination and management of the gymnastics Women's Development program during 2000. Debbie would continue on being the head gymnastics coach of the Cheerleading Victoria program into the 2000s. ¹

The first cheerleading nationals was organised by Gymnastics Australia in 2002 as part of their Aussie GymFest program in Brisbane, with over 400 athletes competing. Cheerleading was also officially recognised by Gymnastics Australia as a gymsport under the General Gymnastics stream, with the establishment of a working committee led by Nerine Cooper, a national program and accredited coaching courses. The first national level 1 coaching course was run in conjunction with the Aussie GymFest program, with over 50 participants becoming accredited by Gymnastics Australia. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Cheerleading in Australia”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

cheerleading in Australia is type of dance, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²