Three Grade 9 learners from Bryanston High School will form a part of the first-ever South African junior team to compete in the International Cheer Union World Championships.
Megan Fletcher, Rendani Matumba and Tylar Booysen are part of both their school’s cheerleading team as well the South African Majorette and Cheerleading Association’s (Samca) national team. For the young girls, travelling to the United States to compete in an international competition is the opportunity of a lifetime.
Megan and Rendani both started cheerleading at a young age while Tylar only took up the sport three years ago. In that time, the girls have competed in numerous competitions locally, but the world championships promise to be their toughest yet.
For all three of the girls, the uniqueness of the sport was a major drawcard. “I’ve never seen anything like it so I just wanted to get involved in something very different and new,” said Rendani.
Cheerleading is still not a very recognisable sport in South Africa and the girls added that there are still misconceptions about what the sport entails. Tylar said, “I think most people think it’s about dancing but there is so much technique and hard work that goes into it, so I definitely think its underappreciated.”
Practices take many hours each week and the girls do conditioning in order to prepare for the various lifts involved. A three-minute routine can take weeks to prepare. They hope that their selection for the world championships will help show others how much dedication and hard work the sport requires.
Tylar, Megan and Rendani, along with the other members of the junior and senior teams will be leaving for the championships at the end of April. Currently, their biggest challenge is raising the funds necessary to travel to the United States to compete. Each girl will need to raise R40 000 through their own fundraising efforts in order to participate.
Megan said, “Most of the fundraising is on us so it’s a really big expense. The organisation [Samca] assists us with ideas but the rest falls on us.”
She added that they would also appreciate sponsors of uniforms as that adds up to a big expense for the team as well.
If you would like to support the girls in their fundraising efforts contact admin@samca.org
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