Lismore-based cheerleading team, Adrenaline Cheer Elite (A.C.E), is gearing up to compete in their first in-person international competition, The 2023 Global Dance + Cheer Games in Hawaii.

This competition brings together the best cheerleading teams from around the world to showcase their skills and compete for the title of global champions.

A.C.E is no stranger to the competitive cheerleading scene, having won a number of major titles in recent years. However, this will be their first time competing on an international level, and the team is excited for the challenge.

14 athletes from across the region, including Lismore, Woodburn, Coraki, and Evans Head will compete in Hawaii on May 20 and May 21.

The Lismore App spoke with A.C.E owner and coach Natasha Herne about the upcoming trip, and the preparation that has gone into it.

“This will be our first time as a gym from Lismore competing internationally overseas,” she said.

“The youngest person on our team is 12, and the oldest person on our team is 23, so there's a big gap in ages, but all of our kids come from the Northern Rivers area.”

“The majority of the athletes are training at least six times a week, for two to three hours at a time, and every weekend is taken up too – it’s a big commitment.”

“It's a sport that is welcoming to every single person, there's honestly something for everyone here.”

“Cheerleading is a mixture of gymnastics, acrobatics, dance, tumbling - it's just all the best bits of everyone's favourite sport, into one sport – it’s really fun and it's definitely a sport unlike any other sport!”

Like every business and sporting club in the region, Natasha and A.C.E got hit hard by the flood, losing everything and having to rebuild the facility.

“In the past 12 months, with the flood obviously, this is now a brand-new facility that we have for cheer, it got completely ruined just like everything else in Lismore.”

(Front entrance of the A.C.E gym in South Lismore following the flood.)

“It's been a big, big job trying to get everything back to how it was, which is why it was such a massive push and so important for me to make sure that these athletes did have this opportunity to go and compete overseas.”

“We still have so many athletes that aren't living in their own houses yet, that are still living with family or in temporary homes - but are still spending all this money and taking all this time to train, just so they can have this opportunity to compete overseas.”

Despite a hard few months, A.C.E believe they are in a very strong position to come out with a strong position.

“We're in a really good position to hopefully come back with a place in the top three, we competed in a virtual competition a few weeks ago and we actually won, so that was super awesome, especially for the kids.”

“Overall, I just think that this trip - not only for our kids - but for Lismore in general, is so important because Lismore has 14 young athletes going overseas to represent them, competing in Hawaii against the Americans at their own sport.”

“I think it's a really great achievement and something that everyone in Lismore, and these athletes, should be so proud of themselves for doing.”

A.C.E are holding a showcase on Sunday, May 14, it's a gold coin donation for anyone to come and watch. It will be the first and last time that the team perform the routine in Australia, before going overseas to compete.