Following a disastrous dance video in Florida that went viral late last week, the McMaster Marauders cheerleaders are hoping to recover
On April 6 and 7, the group gave a performance at the National Dance Alliance and National Cheerleaders Association Collegiate National Championship in Daytona, Florida. The team’s first run included a number of errors, and a video of it quickly became popular on Twitter. The first 20 seconds of the almost two-minute performance are when the faults begin.
In one scene, a woman is shown being launched at least ten feet into the air, but she deviates from the expected path and is caught only inches from the mat below. Following a brief period of regrouping, two groups of people build a pyramid, one of which nearly resulted in a woman’s head being driven directly into the mat.
McMaster University Marauders cheerleaders disastrous failed routine in Florida video goes viral on Twitter
On Twitter, videos of the routine received over 430,000 views along with numerous remarks criticising the performance. Team cheerleader Thalia Marinis wrote on TikTok that while the squad performed well in rehearsal, it didn’t carry over to the mat. We were being cyberbullied, she claimed, adding that the coaches had advised them to ignore it.
The crew decided to go for a walk to make themselves feel better and buy some food to feel better about our dreadful competition day.
More about the performance
According to the results of the tournament, they received 10 deductions and finished last in their division—advanced all-girl division 1A—on that particular day. The squad entered this tournament after practising since last summer and winning the Power Cheerleading Athletics Collegiate Championship (PCA), according to coach Kelly Van Burgsteden of CBC Hamilton. However, this was the group’s first performance at this level.
The public may perceive cheerleading as threatening when skill fails but no one was hurt, the coach reported.
A potential for redemption
On Day 2, the group had a chance to make compensations. There was not much pressure since it was impossible for them to perform worse than they did the previous day. However, they felt a great deal of pressure as they badly wanted to succeed.
Yet, there were some catastrophes, including one in which a cheerleader fell from a pyramid’s top and landed on her back. The squad was once again last, but only received 4.75 instead of 10 deductions.
Coach Van Burgsteden predicted that going forward, the team would perform even better and they can’t wait to return the next year with this knowledge under their belt.