Graham Lancaster is known as a cheerleader for the Illawarra through his work with charities, sports teams and business groups, but many people might be surprised to learn he's an actual cheerleader too.
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Last week, the 55-year-old Wollongong lawyer and his team - the Natural Disasters - took out fourth place in the Adult Pom category at the Australian All star Cheerleading Federation national championships at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.
Mr Lancaster got into cheerleading thanks to his dance teacher daughter, Sarah, in 2017 when he was training to be a part of the annual Stars of Wollongong Dance for Cancer.
"She said 'dad, we're trying to start up an adult pom team, it'd be great for you and you can get your flexibility up, and it'd help prepare you for dance for cancer'," he said.
"I love it, I like to dance, and it gives me a chance to stay healthy and fit physically and mentally."
He said lots of people were "incredulous" when they found out about his cheerleading hobby, but usually changed their tune once he showed them photos and videos of his team performing.
"There's a lot of people who do a verbal double take. They ask 'sorry, did you say cheerleading, with pom poms and things?'" he said.
![Wollongong lawyer Graham Lancaster, second from left, performing at the Australian All star Cheerleading Federation national championships. Picture supplied. Wollongong lawyer Graham Lancaster, second from left, performing at the Australian All star Cheerleading Federation national championships. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/HcD9H4nNcktxiWcmkEEpQD/906673c5-5aa8-4420-bef6-28f525784fe8.JPG/r0_98_1920_1182_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Then I show them the picture from our 2019 state finals, of me doing a toe touch, and then a video, and they say 'oh wow, now I understand'. Our team is very proud of the fact that we make people happy, and that we can keep doing what we do."
He said his team's average age was about 38 to 42, and was mostly made up of mothers whose children dance at NRG Studios.
He said he would encourage more people - especially men - to take up the activity.
"Believe in yourself, never stereotype yourself - I've never found a stereotype to be liberating whereas going against stereotypes generally is, and you live once, so why not take the opportunity when you can and do what you can in this world," he said.
"I think I'm the oldest male cheerleader in the country, and no one has challenged me on that. I'd like to see more people get into it.
"Also, hanging around with women doing this, helps you to understand them better, you can relate to people a lot better."
"Our team name is the Natural Disasters - we like to laugh at ourselves, there are times when we don't get it right, but we don't take ourselves that seriously, and that's part of the fun of it."
Mr Lancaster had kept going with cheerleading despite a back injury, and said he was particularly proud that adrenaline helped him to perform a "toe touch" at this year's national championships.
"The toe touch I did at the end is the first time I've done that this year, and probably the first time I've done it in two years," he said.
"It was largely a bit of adrenaline - and in the moment we'd done pretty well with our routine as far as I could tell, and I thought even if I stuff this up, we've done well".
He said teams are judged based on aspects including expression, execution, choreography, pom-pom movements and complexity, with extra points for jumps and pom tosses.
"There were 12 teams in our category, and the first five get placing, and we came fourth - we missed out on third by 0.3 points," he said.
Mr Lancaster said his whole team - naming "Joyce, Belinda, Robbie, Cath, Bron, Amy, Sara, Kasia and our coach Kira" - deserved credit and said their camaraderie and supportiveness had especially helped "keep us all sane" over the past couple of years during the pandemic.
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