Jumping for joy

By Angela Pirisi
Photograph: Ruth Kaplan


	Three cheers for Hamilton CA Anne Marie Tucker, who loves performing at competitions in her newfound sport

Being in front of a crowd of 5,000 people makes Anne Marie Tucker literally flip. As a member of a parent-led, adult cheerleading squad, the Hamilton CA says she loves performing to a packed stadium. “I feel the excitement of the audience, and we feed off the crowd,” says Tucker, 36.

The manager in the dispute analysis and valuations group at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hamilton joined CheerForce Parent Pack three years ago after witnessing how much fun her son, Hayden, now 7, was having cheerleading and discovering that there was a parent contingent. “My son’s friend’s mom basically dared me,” she says.
Never one to shun the spotlight, Tucker gets a thrill from performing. “Even in my work, I love doing presentations to adjusters,” she says. “Besides, you can’t be too modest if you’re doing cheerleading — you’re wearing a short skirt and when you do a cartwheel, people can see the gold bloomies you’re wearing.”

In high school, she preferred volleyball, softball and swimming to shaking pom-poms on the sidelines. But competitive cheerleading is different, says Tucker: “There are no pom-poms — it’s really a sport.” Each two-and-a-half-minute routine consists of stunting (building human pyramids and other formations), dancing, jumps, tumbling and cheering. In the position of “base,” a support at the bottom of pyramids and other poses, Tucker is learning how to toss teammates straight up and catch them in a seated position on one extended arm. Sounds tough, but cheerleading is incredibly fun, she insists: “It’s also a good escape from a very demanding job.”

The team of 30 men and women — including a former Olympic figure skater and NFL cheerleader — performs four times a year at local, provincial and national competitions.