Annemarie from Cambusnethan says cheerleading is more than a job

Jun 1 2011 by Euan McLelland, Wishaw Press

Cheerleader Annemarie McPhee

“A LOT of people think ‘Oh it’s just cheerleading’,” says Cambusnethan dancer and Scottish Rockette Annemarie McPhee adding emphatically: “But it’s not.”

Annemarie (25), has been dancing with Scotland’s premier cheerleading squad for six years now but is currently watching over her shoulder with just cause.

This Sunday the squad hold their annual try-outs at DW Sports Fitness at the Glasgow Fort, a day traditionally punctuated by tears and cheers as 25 lucky girls are chosen to dance around the world in front of global audiences, while a host of others lose their place or have cheerleading dreams shattered.

Annemarie continues: “It is a lot of hard work and so much tougher than a lot of people would think.

“It is very hard work and can get really stressful when there is a lot on. We’re really busy just now because we’ve had so many gigs and we’ve got the Edinburgh rugby coming up this weekend, so we need to do a lot of extra practice We train on a Tuesday and a Friday night but obviously if we have a lot coming up we need to practice more.

“You need to be very fit but for the uniforms you also need to look fit too, so it is actually a lot of work as it is as much taking care of yourself and looking good than learning the routines.”

However, as dedicated as any cheerleader must be to her profession, there are plenty of rewards if you make the grade.

“Over my sixth years as a Rockette I’ve been able to travel all over the world. It has been amazing,” said Annemarie.

“Clients book the squad for events around the world. We were flown over and danced at the beach soccer in Dubai for a week, performed at volleyball tournaments in Italy and we were in France last year for another volleyball tournament. We dance for the Rocks basketball team every season and also dance for the Wildcats netball team and do a lot of the football games.

“We do a lot of charity work as well, performing at events voluntarily.”

Asked what attributes any girls keen to try out to become a Rockette require, Annemarie said: “Loads and loads of stamina and a lot of dedication to it because it can take a lot of your time, so you really need to be dedicated.”

Dancers and gymnasts aged between 18 and 35 years are invited along to this year’s try-out this Sunday from 12.30pm.