It was recreational gymnastics that first captured Kirsten Rodgers interest. And with all the skills she learned in gymnastics it was an easy leap for her to turn her passion to cheerleading.
At the age of 10 in 2002-2003 she took the next step joining the Guelph Stars cheerleading club. By 2005 she was competing on the junior Level 4 Silvertip Sharks team associated with the Cambridge-based Cheer Sport Sharks All Star Cheer Gym and then spent 4 years on the Great White Sharks. Today she is preparing to represent Canada in the upcoming Cheerleading Worlds competition as part of the Team Canada All Girl Premier cheerleading team. The 24-member squad will be striving to reach the podium in the very competitive Premier Division that includes the all girl team from the USA.
She first joined Team Canada in 2012 at Level 5, a level just below the top scale of Level 6 competing in the ICU (International Cheer Union) World Cheerleading Championship and won gold with the team. Kirsten was also chosen to be on the Team in 2013 and the Team won gold that year as well.
This year Rodgers was chosen as a member of the Team Canada All Girl Premier Team competing at Level 6. It is the second year Canada has competed in the Premier Division, the highest level in cheerleading competition and one dominated by the American national teams. She has accomplished this in slightly more than 10 years as a competitive cheerleader.
“We have to push to beat the states because they’re very good,” Rodgers said in an interview with the Advertiser.
“The goal is to someday knock the Yanks off the top of the podium” said her father Harold, an avid supporter along with his wife Jackie.
The Level 6 team members on the two Canadian Teams (one all girl and one co-ed) going to the competition are amongst the most “elite” of cheerleaders,” Rodgers added.
“It is an honour to be selected as a member of Team Canada and be recognized for my talents and abilities as an athlete.”
The team is made up of four-member groups selected from across the country that perform an action packed, high intensity, physically demanding routine that includes elements such as stunting, tumbling, dance, tosses and pyramids. Some of the criteria the judges look for include team synchronization, level changes, stunt sections where one of the girls is lifted over the heads of the other three members, tumbling and full team pyramids. It’s a two-and-half minute routine with little room for error.
Prior to the routine, there is a half minute group cheer which is also judged.
ICU World Championship teams are judged out of 100 points with 10 points awarded for cheer criteria, 25 points for partner stunts, 25 points for pyramids, 15 points for basket tosses, 10 points for tumbling, five points for flow of routine and transitions and 10 points for overall presentation, crowd appeal and dance.
Rodgers keeps up her exercise regimen and cheerleading with the Varsity team at Queens University where she attends. In 2012-2013 she was named most valuable player of her team which finished second in 2010, 2012 and 2013 at the university nationals and third in 2011.
The upcoming world competition will be held at Walt Disney World® Resort on April 24-25 and team members will meet for the first time on March 20 for a 3 day home training camp and then for another three days in Florida just prior to the championship to learn and practice their routine. Training takes about nine hours a day prior to the championship.
“It’s a passion for the sport,” Rodgers said of her commitment to cheerleading.
The governing body is also hoping to eventually get cheerleading to an Olympic sport. Rodgers believes the growth of athletes participating in cheerleading having it recognized by the International Olympic Committee as an Olympic sport is a natural “evolution of the sport.”
“It’s been great to watch her evolution,” he father added.
Rodgers admits there is some “rivalry” among the cheerleaders coming from different parts of the country.
“There’s rivalry between the girls, but when you’re on Team Canada it’s out the door.”
