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CheerForce SG returns to the parade with a roar
By: Nur Syazana Binte Sulaiman
What started off as a small rented warehouse business has now became a 1, 000 square feet professional cheerleading studio that holds a growing number of members every year.
First founded by Mr Ng Tian Jun and Ms Gwendelyn Tan in 2014, CheerForce SG started off with the sole purpose of wanting to provide a platform where people who had an interest in cheerleading could train together, regardless of the skills they possessed.
Despite initially struggling with recruiting new members for the team, the founders did not give up and continued to come up with ways to improve their business.
At long last, their hard efforts were paid off when the team was crowned Champion for the Asia Cheerleading Invitational Championship in 2018 for their Co-ed Elite Division.
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This year marks CheerForce’s second year performing for Chingay. Unlike the previous year, Cheerforce had attempted a slightly “unusual” concept involving aspects of tribal culture - in conjunction to Chingay’s theme this year.
“This year is a little different, we are trying something that regular cheerleaders or rather cheerleading teams will not attempt,” said Mr Ng, who also takes on the role of the main chorographer in his contingent. “We came up with a tribal theme and our uniform is not a usual cheerleading uniform.”
Their tribal costume was a black shirt showing an illustration of a lion’s head with the word, “CHEERFORCE” written below. Together with the shirt was a gladiator skirt with strips of gold underneath their black shorts.
The look was finished with gold and white face paint marks as well as a replica of the iconic Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot’s headband tiara.
The team had also made use of props such as hula hoops to spice up their cheerleading routine.
However, during the period of preparation, the team were facing certain issues that made rehearsals tougher than they expected.
“My team involves about 30 to 40 people so it’s hard to get everyone down together at the same time to practice for every single practice, especially so with this new theme that we’ve just explored in,” said Mr Ng.
Although CheerForce were struggling with different issues, they continue to persevere and work together as a team to overcome these issues.
When it is time for them to shine, CheerForce had taken on the stage with their signature lion tribal costumes with a smile on their faces.
The team ended the night on a strong note. No words could describe how thankful they were for the experience they had participating in Chingay 2020 and will be looking forward in performing in future with a bigger team.
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