Fifteen year old Tanesha Sandri is a Year 10 here at Riccarton High School and is part of the champion All Star Pride cheerleading team who recently won the annual 'South Island Show Offs' cheerleading competition, held in Nelson.

Tanesha and her team were not expecting to come away with the title of Overall Champions and are still in a state of disbelief. Tanesha's team 'Jagz' competed against 25 teams from throughout the South Island and impressively, each team from her gym won their divisions which put them into an overall competition against each other. Ultimately 'Jagz' came away with the overall win but it was a hugely successful weekend for every team in Tanesha's gym.

Tanesha has been a cheerleader for just over a year now. She spent time watching her younger sisters perform which eventually led to her wanting to give it a go. Tanesha loves cheerleading because of the friendships she makes and is grateful for the opportunities she has had to attend the recent competitions as they were heaps of fun and her team bonded a lot. Her gym trains 5 hours a week, 4 hours after school on Tuesdays and for 1 hour after school on Thursdays. Normally before competitions, they may have a weekend practice for more perfection time.

While cheerleading seems similar to dance, there are significant differences with cheerleading requiring more muscle and strength. Tanesha's main position is a base. She supports and lifts the flyer into the air. Being a base is an important position, they have to be tall and strong. Your team and position within it are based on your level at school, and not age. Tanesha enjoys being a back-base but it is all she has ever done and is keen to try side-basing one day. She’s not too keen on being a flyer as it seems a tricker role and requires a lot more core muscle and flexibility.

“I am extremely proud of myself and my gym as all teams did amazingly well and I can’t wait to go back next year as the reigning champs”

Some of Tanesha’s competitions are live streamed so if you are wanting to support and watch them, then I highly recommend doing so! 

Riccarton High School is so proud of how much Tanesha has accomplished and looks forward to hearing about her future success with Cheerleading.