Raiders cheerleaders play with power and style
by Jenna Clarke
The bad boys of the Canberra Raiders like disgraced former star Josh
Dugan could learn a thing or two about discipline, hard work and
personal branding from the 17 scantily clad women who cheer them on at
every home game.
The smiling Raiderettes - the women who spend the majority of
a freezing Canberra winter accessorising the aforementioned grins with
crop tops and fish nets - put the ''leader'' in ''cheerleader''.
While they didn't pick up the pom poms for the NRL's official
Women in League round when the Raiders lost to the Cronulla Sharks at
Sharks Stadium on the weekend, Raiderettes coach Kait, who has been a
part of the official squad for six years, says the Raiders community has
more girl power than Beyonce.
''All the canteen mums, the physiotherapists, the receptionists at
the club are so highly regarded,'' Kait said. ''I've been involved with
the club for around seven years and it's a great, female-friendly
environment. I actually say to the girls at every home game, 'Not
everyone watches what we do but remember to smile as your mum is out
there watching'. It's funny but really nice that all of our mums come to
games to cheer us on.''
For Kait, spray tans, hair flicking and thigh slapping is just one, albeit shiny, aspect of her life.
By day, the 23-year-old University of Canberra graduate is climbing the corporate ladder in her classified government job. Fellow Raiderette ''veteran'', 22-year-old Sam, who has also
been with the squad for six years, juggles full-time study - she's
completing a degree in business informatics - with a full-time job as a
legal assistant. Cheerleading is her hobby and dancing her passion.
Kait and Sam are the Raiderettes' version of the friendship
between players Sandor Earl and Blake Ferguson, also known as
''#Dorguson''. During rehearsals they laugh, joke and poke fun at each other
and finish each other's sentences. Although they admit they would
rather drink Red Bull than green tea - the boys' drink of choice. They
originally decided to try out for the Raiderettes after being encouraged
to do so by their childhood dancing teacher.
''All of the girls are so talented and strong - seriously, we
are like heavy lifters thanks to all the routines which involve us
tossing girls in the air, but we've all been dancing or doing gymnastics
since we were all really young. Cheerleading is one way we can continue
to keep doing what we enjoy,'' Sam said.
Each dancer must undertake individual weights training,
strengthening and cardio fitness and also attend a four-hour training
session each week to learn new routines.
The Canberra Times went along to one of the high-intensity sessions where formations for upcoming home games were discussed and learnt. Their professionalism filters down to the squad's
fraternisation with the team. ''We do socialise together sometimes but
only really after Saturday games, other than that the players do their
thing and we do ours,'' Kait said. ''Because Canberra is so small and the club has a real
community feel about it, the cheerleaders and players are most likely
related to each other rather than in relationships with each other.''
In response to the Raiders scandalous start to the year
caused by off-the field dramas of Ferguson and Dugan, she said there
were strict rules regarding personal conduct which each member of the
squad adheres to when joining the Raiderettes. ''It's not just about being pretty - if you can't hold a
conversation, be charming and engage with the crowd, the fans and the
general public then doing this and being a Raiderette isn't for you,''
Kait said.
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