From Choreographer to Cheerleading Coach

Rosemary Sims is head coach of Cheerleading Victoria, a cheer academy that trains and provides cheerleaders to sporting events in and around Victoria, Australia. She has been doing this for sixteen years.

Rosemary Sims did not start out as a cheerleading coach, however. She originally was the resident choreographer for dancers on a television show called "Early Bird Show", aired on Channel 10 in Victoria. One of the shows featured a basketball segment and one of the participating NBL clubs asked Rosemary to provide cheerleaders for the segment.

This, along with the fact that Rosemary was already the undefeated Professional Champion, at a world level, in partner acrobatics and dance, spurred her interest in cheerleading and in the stunt acrobatics that are part of many cheerleading routines. She was already familiar with the idea of one person lifting another one during a routine, so she figured that it would be quite easy to progress to several people lifting one person, as is done in cheerleading.

From there, she formed the idea of and created Cheerleading Victoria. As mentioned earlier, she provides cheerleading to at least 60 sporting events a year. All participation is on a voluntary and unpaid basis, except for those times when professional leagues are involved. She allows cheerleaders from all levels, including Peewees, to participate, thus giving many youth an opportunity they might not otherwise have.

You may have heard someone say their child does a particular thing because it "keeps him off the streets". Rosemary says this is one reason she does what she does. It does provide youth with positive activities which keep them in good physical condition, and well as providing support for local sporting clubs (what we would most likely consider "teams" or "leagues" here in America).