By JESSE GRAHAM
SELBY’s Jade Johnson will compete on an international stage in less than a month, jetting off to Dallas, Texas, with a team of Australia’s best cheerleaders.
Jade, 17, will compete with the Outlaws All Stars at the National Cheerleaders Association All Star National Championship in the USA from 27 February-1 March.
More than 19,000 athletes are expected to be at the event, which is one of America’s largest cheerleading competitions.
For Jade, the event is a chance to best last year’s result of second place with her team, which is made up of Australian cheerleaders from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
She said the Outlaws were ramping up their practice in the lead-up to the event, training Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays in order to perfect their moves and execution.
Jade told the Mail that cheerleading is all about perfecting each move.
“At the competition, it all comes down to execution,” she said.
“Every other team can do the same skills, you just have to be able to do them better – so we’re practising timing and making sure our stunts hit perfectly.”
The teams will compete twice over the days, and are scored for their tumbling, stunts, dances and jumps, with the second day’s score more heavily weighted than the first.
Despite being nervous in the lead-up to the event, Jade said she was feeling more confident than at last year’s competition.
“I’m feeling pretty ready,” she said.
“Hopefully, we can smash it.”
She will be travelling over as part of a 50-athlete team, with two all-girl teams and one co-ed team competing.
A post-competition highlight for Jade and the team is a trip to Disneyland in Los Angeles before heading back to Australia.
