New Zealand's All Star Cheerleaders Academy All Girl team have made history as the first Kiwi team to claim gold in the International All Girl Level 5 Division at the Cheerleading World Championships.
This year's competition was held at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and brought 563 teams from 21 countries to vie for the title.
The powerhouse Academy All Girl team made up of 23 Kiwi-born athletes from Auckland, Christchurch, Tauranga, Hamilton, and Taranaki is also coached entirely by New Zealanders – Kimberley Ramsay, Daniel O'Neil, and Colin Case.
Speaking from Orlando, O'Neil told Breakfast the historic win was "a dream come true" for the team.
"The girls put out the best routine they possibly could, and we were so proud as coaches of what they were able to achieve out there as well."
The team's success comes as the sport gains more of a foothold here, Isobel Prasad reports. (Source: 1News)
Donning a shiny gold medal, All Star Cheerleader Emmalee Harrison said the team had "no idea" how they were going to stack up on an international level.
"We were in a really good position on day one, and we knew we had to be perfect on day two, and we still had a few mistakes here and there so we really had no idea who it was going to go to, so we're stoked about it."
She said the team came third last year at the world championships, and trained three times a week to get to this level.
"We're running; we're training; we're doing all those extra things. Right up until we were going backstage to compete, we were still training and still trying to fix parts of the routine… It was all gas until the end," she laughed.
All Star New Zealand, a powerhouse in the domestic cheerleading scene, has consistently impressed at the global event since their debut in 2005, their previous best result a bronze medal in 2023.
Harrison said many of the teams' members have been attending the competition for more than 10 years, which was "very special".
O'Neil said this was his sixth personal World Championship win and it had been "20 years in the making" for All Star New Zealand.
"The kids are just so talented, and we are all Kiwi-born as well so we do really strive to put New Zealand out on the map and we're really excited to be able to do this," he said.
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