'Being a cheerleader is not an easy task'

Pretty faces

In the City for a match, a few of the girls from the team spoke to Metrolife’ on their love for Bangalore and how they have incorporated some fun Bollywood moves to their cheer routine. The entire team has come down from South Africa and many of them have been visiting Bangalore for the past three years.

Captain Denise Schoeman says Bangalore has become her second home after South Africa. “In India, I feel the most at home in Bangalore. I enjoy everything about it. Be it the weather or the shopping sprees we all have at Brigade Road, Commercial Street or MG Road. I have become so familiar with the streets out here that I can actually give directions to some of the locals now,” she laughs.

It was in the pursuit of a career in dance that most of these girls took up cheerleading as a profession. Though most of them have day jobs back home, they call cheerleading as their “profession after 5 pm”. Kershia, a member of the team says, “Being a cheerleader is not an easy task. One has to really have a passion for dance and work for hours together. But with the kind of response we get from the crowd out here, it’s all worth it. Today, many people know us by name which is such a great feeling.”

Ask them how much ‘Indianness’ have they brought to their routines and Denise says, “We watch a lot of Bollywood numbers and Cindy, from our team, has actually learnt Bollywood dance. She helps us out with a few moves so that we can please the crowd.”

Unanimously they all agree that they get the best response and treatment in India. Ask them if the lewd remarks or stares affects them in any way and Denise says that all those are a part of the job. “It’s our job to get the attention of the crowd and support them in cheering the teams. We all love to dance for a big crowd and there is no fun if there is no one watching us,” she says.

The buzz around the matches and the long hours in the dressing rooms are not the only things these girls miss when they go back home. “If there’s one thing I wish that was available in the South African supermarket, it’s the garlic naan. We just love them and gorge on them whenever we visit Bangalore. Our diets go for a complete toss when we hit the City,” says Nicki, another cheerleader.

A thing that the girls are happy about is the way India has opened up to cheerleading as a profession. , Denise was thrilled to see many teams like Pune and Cochin bringing Indian cheerleaders in the Indian Premier League. “We were pleasantly surprised to see the Indian cheerleaders, more so that there were boys in their team. All of us were like one big family, we all hung out together in the dressing room and even got to know each other better during the IPL. Now there is hope for even India to have its own cheering squad,” she says.

Ask them what are they looking forward to in the coming years and they say that they would like to incorporate some more new routines. “So far, the audience has loved everything we have done. In the coming years, we only hope to keep everything more fresh and spirited,” sums up Kershia.