This season on So You Think You Can Dance don’t be surprised if you spot a flutter of pom poms flash across your screen!! Excitingly there are two NRL Cheerleaders who make quite a mark
on the show this year with their incredible dance talents!!
Maddie from the
Cronulla Mermaids and Shannon from the Manly Seabirds will both feature prominently
this season as we get set to watch their journeys unfold over the next coming
weeks!!
The Mermaids are becoming quite the regulars on SYTYCD with this being their second blonde beauty to make their mark on the competition. The first being Chanelle Johnson who dazzled her way into the Top 20 in Season 2 of the show.
Can you believe it’s only a few more weeks till the 2014 NRL
Season kicks off??!!
Im so excited that this time of year has come around so
quickly again with so many fresh new things set to be happening at different clubs across the NRL with their Cheerleaders!!
There will be lots to look out for this year and before we know it we will be back whipping our hair back and forth,
smiling like Cheshire Cats and pretending we are sun drenched in the Bahamas when
the winter air hits! Haha!!
(If anyone can pull of “Blue Lips” its NRL Cheerleaders –
so when winter comes to play – you work that lip shade girlfriends! Haha)
Ive just gathered together a little “Around the Grounds” so
to say of what I could find of the NRL Audition Season for 2014.... Hope you
enjoy lovelies!!
xx
Here I am at the 2014 Manly Sea Eagles Auditions
As you can see - EXCITED.COM.AU haha
Many months ago now i let out of the bag my secret soft spot for the Newcastle Knights cheerleaders and mentioned there was one other club who dazzled in my eyes when i first started cheerleading all those years ago. And Ta daaaaa i can reveal that club and those cheerleaders were the: Cronulla Sharks Mermaids.
Way back when my NRL cheerleading career began as an extremely awkward,
frizzy haired, recently brace free, 16 year old baby face (oh yeh - i
was babe-a-licious.... NAHT) - i was confronted with a cheerleading
scene full of A-Grade (or should i say "First Grade") Bombshells. It was
safe to say I was well out of my league! ha.
The Cronulla
Mermaids at that time in particular where a squad full to the brim with
bronzed, beachy, glamorous babes who just screamed "Look at me... Im Delicious".
The ladies in the black, white, blue and silver may have been apart of a
club yet to win a premiership - but they were kicking goals themselves
not only in the yummy stakes but in the incredible talent on show at
each of their home games.
The head Mermaid leading the way and steering the Cronulla Mermaid brand
as a whole in the right direction for 14 years was Wendy McMahon. Wendy
cheerlead & choreographed for 14 years at her beloved Cronulla
Sharks Football Club and then went on to nurture and build a junior
squad to add to the sparkle of game days in the Shire.
Wendy has kindly answered some questions about her time on the sidelines and i have added a number of gorgeous images & video of the Mermaids throughout the years Wendy was apart of the team.
Tell us about you cheerleading career and how you came about being involved with the Sharks?
I was 18
when i first performed with sharks in 1997 as part of a performance for super
league. It was just a call up for a dance job which turned out to be
cheerleading - i wasn't apart of the squad I was just filling in for a friend. The
year after in 1998 i auditioned for the Mermaids with a friend thinking it
would be fun and a great job to do with my other dance friends. In the june of
that first year the choreographers were asked to stand down and then we were left with no
one to lead us or choreograph and i remember getting a call to do a roiutine as
a trial. I was 19 and stayed in the job for 14 years. I did stop performing
when i turned 32 to just concentrated on the choreography side of things and I also had a
junior squad that was flourishing nicely and had accumulated alot of talent.
What is your dance background?
My dance background is classical, contemporary,
tap, jazz, gymnastics, lyrical, character, hip hop, funk, singing and acting.
The best job i ever landed was performing in Baz Lurhmans movie "Moulin Rouge" as one of the main can can dancers.
What is your favourite memory while being a Cronulla cheerleader? Favourite sharks memories would definitely have be
winning the $20,000 on the footy show after being crowned the Cheer Squad of the
year. It was a highlight & proud moment during my time as the Mermaids Director.
(ps. Note from Hayley here.... watch the video.... this routine is Outstanding!)
Biggest achievement from your time with Cronulla?
My biggest achievement
during my time at Cronulla would have to be holding down the job with so many
years of success and going out still when the squad was at its best, would have
loved to still be there but its hard to stay on top with people biting at your
ankles to be in your position.
While coaching at the
Sharks what values did you instill in your girls and what advice would you give
to aspiring NRL cheerleaders? I would always try to be a good role model to the girls even when at
times some of them were 10 years my senior. I encouraged them to be respectable
and always friendly to the fans.
My advice
to anyone wanting to be a cheerleader would be to pick your squad carefully as
it's the girls in it and the boss which makes the job a lovable and enjoyable
one. My times at the Sharks were such happy & wonderful times with some
very amazing people.
Yes - that is Jennifer Hawkins in the top left.
This was the year J-Hawk was crowned Cheerleader of the Year
What do you believe cheerleaders bring to the game
day experience?
I believe cheerleaders prodived something that little girls could aspire to be and look up to. At cronulla we
brought something to be happy about when the boys in the black white and blue
were not doing so well. We would alway be performing and doing tricks on the sidelines even when the team didn't score.
Post cheerleading: what do you get up to these days? I own and run a dance school in Caringbah called WAM Dancers where I
teach dance 6 days a week. Ive been the principle/manager since i was 24 years old and it's getting very big and growing every day. I
love every second of it! I also spend time teaching at various primary and
high schools in the Sutherland Shir as well as choreographing for professional jobs and shows that im requested for.
