The western cheer

Founded in 2017, with the goal to give university students the opportunity to compete in some of Australia’s largest Cheerleading competitions, was Western Sydney University Cheerleading.

Having started with a singular team, the ‘Wildcats’, consisting of 26 members – 21 of which had never competed in cheerleading before went out blitzed their season – brought home an array of medals and great experiences to match.

Jumping back to the present day, there are now two competition teams due to the influx of people and interest. The coed ‘Wildcats’ and the all-girl ‘Wolves’, will be representing WSU through cheerleading competitions this season.

For some members of the club, this is the first time they have ever had a go at the sport of cheerleading.

Wolf alumni Charlotte Cutler began her cheer experience this year, after having taken part in an array of other sports. So far, Charlotte has had a great experience with the club, and she mentioned that the club had exceeded her initial expectations.

“It’s nice how inclusive everyone is and they’re so helpful, and everybody has been like that,” she said. “I was trying to do something out of my comfort zone, and this was definitely it.”

On the other side is Krista Lee Mcintosh, currently in her third season on the team, and the excitement and different experiences each year is what keeps bringing this original Wildcat back.

“Each year there are chances to meet new people and try different things,” she said. “Its what makes me want to come back because it is so much fun.”

Krista had previously been apart of cheerleading for a football team in her younger years, and so when she heard about the opportunity to represent WSU during her time at university, she was very interested.

“As soon as I heard that there were auditions I was straight there,” she said. “I was trying to do something out of my comfort zone, and this was definitely it.”

However, not everyone has the same story of how they decided to join the cheerleading squad. WSU’s Wildcats treasurer and team member Daniel (Ellen) O’Neil initially joined the group because of a dare with a friend.

“The first couple of weeks I was like ‘Is this my thing, do I really want to do this?’ I’m pretty committed to things such as dares so I stayed on the team last year for the whole year, and here I am this year on an executive position,” Daniel said.

Daniel speaks about a new venture the club has been running this year, the monthly dance classes, and how it has proved to be a further bonding experience a highlight for WSU cheer.

“The monthly dancing classes, it was one of the other members of executives who had the idea, the first one was a huge success and we were ecstatic with that,” Daniel said.

Western Sydney University Cheer aims to include both club members and non-club members to experience the fun that can be involved with cheer and dance, and with growing popularity and interest, they are doing just that.

Samantha Elliott

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