The Dynamix cheer squad 2 Cool, based in Papakura, have put Aotearoa on the map by taking out two awards for their performance at the Cheerleaders Association Championship in Dallas, Texas, USA.
Among the NZ competitors is 10-years-old Tylar Hayes (Te Arawa, Tainui, Rarotongan, Samoan) whose grandparents are overwhelmed at her success.
Coming from a gymnastics background in Australia, Tylar has surpassed most of her peers and needed a more challenging sport.
Tylar said to her grandfather, “Poppa I want to be a cheerleader and go to the USA.”
Unbeknownst to Tylar her grandparents Daz and Fran Young took the initiative to register her with the Dynamix team in Papakura. They purchased her cheer gears and gifted them to her for Christmas- it’s fair to say she was overjoyed.
When Tylars grandparents facetimed their mokopuna after the win, they were in tears.
“Hearing that New Zealand had won was like us taking the America’s Cup off them,” says Fran.
2 Cool competed against 187 teams (Level 2) across the world and won one of their routines with a score of 99.00 / 100 with zero deductions.
Many hours of hard work and late nights have paid off and Tylars grandparents are grateful to Claudia McLennan and Andrei Coman for their dedication, coaching and choreography.
The team return to Aotearoa this Saturday and are expected to be greeted with a pōhiri.