YOU would be hard pressed to find a prouder grandmother than Gloucester’s Kelly Boyer.
Kelly is currently preparing to travel to Orlando, Florida with her daughter Sophie and her two grandchildren Jasper, 12, and Remi, 9, for the International Cheer Union (ICU) World Championships in late April and the Summit Championship in early May.
The ICU World Championships features athletes drawn from 120 member nations, across a variety of age divisions.
It kicks off with an opening ceremony on Wednesday, 22 April.
Over 20,000 spectators are expected to attend.
Sophie told NOTA 67 athletes from Newcastle will be accompanied by around 100 family and friends.
The venue for both competitions is an ESPN sports complex within Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.
Both Remi and Jasper will compete in the Summit Championships which, according to Varsity Spirit, “showcases the pinnacle of competitive cheerleading and dance, drawing elite teams from across the globe”.
The Summit Championship will take place from 30 April to 3 May.
Jasper and Remi are competing as part of team MCPD, a dance and cheerleading gym based at Cameron Park.
Remi, one of the youngest competitors, is competing in the Youth Advanced Jazz and Lyrical Dance competitions.
Jasper is competing in both the Youth Advanced Jazz Dance and in the Under 16s Cheerleading Competition with his team, The Vipers.
Jasper is also participating in the ICU World Championships as part of Team Australia Youth Pom.
“Performers Australia wide were required to audition and send a show reel to demonstrate their skills,” Kelly said.
“They were given a list of skills to include which Jasper was able to demonstrate very well.”
Both Remi and Jasper attend Hunter School of the Performing Arts at Broadmeadow.
Jasper successfully auditioned for the role of young Peter Allen in the musical Boy from Oz, which is scheduled to be performed at the Singleton Civic Centre in June.
To get the role he was required to sing, tap-dance and play the piano.
“While I would like to continue performing, I would also like to study architecture in the future,” Jasper said.
Remi, on the other hand, has her heart set on making it to college cheerleading one day.
By Marilyn SANDERSON
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