Local team Cheers to its success

Tegan Azar
Aug 9, 2017 · 5 min read
(Momo Hamaguci & Matthew Nickels)

written in october 2016*

Southern Cross Cheer (SCC) is a local Melbourne Cheerleading team based in Northcote and is taking its competitors by storm. The club which first started in 2011 now has 150 athletes and has become one of the most recognisable teams in the country.

SCC isn’t trying to be the biggest club or one that focuses purely on winning, which is refreshing for a sporting team. The club seems to have a strong focus on having athletes simply be their best and put the best possible routine they can on the floor, as long as when they come off the floor they know that they did their job that’s the most important thing.

If they come off the floor with a routine they are proud of it doesn’t matter if they come 10th or 1st, placing is a rewarding benefit however it’s something that Owner and Coach Eddie Davey doesn’t like to put too much focus on ‘our team goals are never to come first, never to place’.

There seems to be an emphasis on every individual athlete to have their own goals and improve on themselves, Davey’s also explains that your strongest athlete is only as good as your weakest athlete and your strongest athlete at one thing may not be the strongest at another aspect.

Whilst each team has been having great successes in their own rights and continue to make their mark there is no doubt that the level 6 team ‘Legacy’ has really set the standard for Australian Cheer.

Legacy won the Cheer Worlds bid at the Australian All Star Cheerleading Federation (AASCF) Nationals completion in 2015 earning them a spot to compete in one of the biggest competitions in the United States, the home of Cheerleading. Since then the team didn’t change much except for a couple minor adjustments, there was then the focus on training regularly and putting out a routine that they were proud of.

Davey’s explained from a coach’s perspective it was a ‘nightmare’ and there was a lot of stress and pressure that came with it, his life became the team. Other clubs from Australia have previously taken the journey to worlds with many placings in the top 10 but it was Legacy who took out 2nd place.

For any team, going to worlds is an amazing achievement in itself and our Aussie teams in the past have proven that we can compete with the best of the best however it was Legacy who showed that with hard work and determination that it is possible to come home with a rewarding result.

A lot of teams from Australia revelled in the success as if it were their own, there was a sense of pride that the team was Australian. It didn’t matter that they were a competitor club it was an achievement that yes, we can do it and it is possible.

One of the athletes from Legacy, Matthew Nickels has been on the team for a couple of years now and is motivated by his progression in the sport. Originally from a tennis background Nickels decided to finally go and watch a friend out of guilt after his friend watched his tennis competitions. He then decided to do a bit of stunting with SCC and originally only considered doing a couple of classes, Davey’s told him to give it a week and within a week Nickels was on a team and preparing for the states competition.

When asked about whether he faces stereotypes for the sport he does, Nickels admits he used to give his friend a bit of slack for doing cheer before he joined as he wasn’t aware of what was involved. He explained that showing people a couple videos and they go ‘wow that’s not what I expected’ and that peoples attitude changes and that they see they are doing really cool stuff.

Since he joined with Legacy things have come a long way, most athletes have stayed on the team and the progression has grown really quickly. The quick progression and closeness of the team has everyone motivated as well as the realisation that they are a world class team.

For Legacy they didn’t have a smooth run to worlds, one of their athletes and a head coach of other SCC teams Momo Hamaguci explained that once they got to the U.S they didn’t do too well at one of the competitions, it was luckily a competition to warm up for worlds however the long flight, jet lag and team mates being sick made it not their best run.

Momo Hamaguci & Matthew Nickels

A big difference for Nickels was that they didn’t have the support they would at home, there was no friends and family and it was quite obvious that no one knew who were they were or even really cared. The team was lucky to have a connection through one of the team mates of an international squad which ended up providing support, day 1 they were in between two well-known teams which also was a bit of an advantage. On day 2 people started to notice who they were after their good run the day before.

Whilst they don’t feel there is much difference since they’ve been back and to them its business as usual they do realise the standard they have set, they know that people are wondering if they can do it again and it is a really exciting time to see whether they can back it up. For them it’s the same as usual and are taking it step by step, Legacy will compete at this year’s Nationals competition on the Gold Coast in November.

SCC proves that with hard work and determination, amazing things can happen. For a club that has only been around since 2011 they are constantly kicking goals, they appear to be very humble about what they do and don’t like to get ahead of themselves. Whilst they know they have done some amazing stuff they are focused on the future and take things a step at a time, there’s no arrogance or boasting about what they were able to do. It’s simply back to business for them and if they gain more success that’s great, if not they will simply continue to work hard.

(SCC Legacy @ worlds IMAGE VIA SCC Instagram)

SCC are located in Northcote, VIC.

For more info head to http://southerncrosscheer.com.au/ or check them out on Facebook or Instagram.

Tegan Azar

Written by

Tegan is a 23 year old Journalism Masters student at La Trobe University. Born and raised in Melbourne Australia she loves sport, fashion, politics and food.

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