To avoid the scattering of cheerleading athletes following the arrival of two new high schools on the Vaudreuil-Soulanges territory, Monique Rochefort, Audrey Daoust and Maude Laframboise have gone to great lengths.

The trio created a non-profit organization (NPO) called Fusion Cheerleading, whose mission is to bring together the cheerleading teams of the Citadins from Cité-des-Jeunes high school and the Pionniers from Soulanges high school. 

“The opening of two new high schools on our territory - Les Échos in Vaudreuil-Dorion and Les Navigateurs in Saint-Zotique - meant that cheerleading athletes were scattered across our territory. It was becoming complicated for everyone to manage. So we had to find a solution. We agreed to merge the two existing teams to create a single team. This has been the case since last September. We train at the Centre de services scolaires des Trois-Lacs, which means lower registration costs for everyone,” Ms Rochefort sums up on the other end of the phone. 

Unlike all-school teams, Fusion Cheerleading doesn't do tumbling. In the jargon, tumbling is a series of passes, such as the roundoff, back handspring or back tuck. This means that the team concentrates on acrobatics. 

In addition to athletes from the CSSTL, the Fusion Cheerleading team can also welcome boys and girls interested in this sporting discipline. “Since it's a civilian team, we could welcome athletes, boys or girls, aged 8 or 18. Anyone can sign up.If we have enough registrations next session, it's not out of the question to start other teams according to the age categories of interested athletes,” she explains.  

Benefits of merging the Citadins and Pionniers 

The main advantage for the three coaches of merging their teams is economic. “Since we train on the LSUHSC premises, we don't have to pay for rent or equipment. This allows us to offer this activity at a very reasonable cost. What's more, the objective behind an NPO is to give back to the athlete, not to make a profit. We want to make cheerleading accessible to everyone at low cost,” she adds.

In the field, the three instigators of the project are supported by assistant coaches Maude Roy and Sandrine Rochon. The Citadins and Pionniers representatives, Stéphanie Côté and Christine Paiement, also put their shoulder to the wheel to make this sporting initiative a reality on the territory. 

To date, Fusion Cheerleading has 28 female athletes in its ranks. In its first year of operation, the team will take part in provincial competitions. Its very first will be the All-Star Championship, to be held in the provincial capital on January 25 and 26. “Next year, if all goes well, we'll be going outside our borders to take part in national or other competitions.” 

The team recently met Laurence Libersan, a Vaudreuil-Soulanges citizen who will be taking part in the first Star Académie variety show. “She's a former member of my team.She did cheerleading with me for four or five years.We were able to meet her because she mentioned my name in an interview where she was asked to name someone who made an impact on her school career. She said that I helped her a lot to stay in school. That really touched me, and I'm glad we were able to take a photo of our team in front of the Star Académie bus,” she concludes.