Team Malaysia to compete in Australian competition

PETALING JAYA (July 1, 2009) – The Cheerleading Association and Register of Malaysia (CHARM), the national governing body for cheerleading in the country, will be fielding a team of 18 cheerleaders in next week’s 2009 AUS Cheer International Cheer, Dance & Aerobic Championships.

The 2009 AUS Cheer International Cheer, Dance & Aerobic Championships will be held in Queensland, Australia from July 10 to July 12, 2009 and is organised by the Australian Cheerleading Union (ACU), the national body for cheerleading in Australia. The event is sanctioned by the International Cheer Union (ICU) and International Federation of Cheerleading (IFC).

Open auditions were held in early May where cheerleaders from CHARM’s training programme and from teams around the Klang Valley turned up to vie for a spot in the team. The team has been training regularly to master their grueling 2½ -minute routine that includes flipping pyramids and numerous stunts.

Team Malaysia will also be performing at The Star’s Cheer 2009 event at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil this Sunday.

Cheerleading is a demanding sport that requires strength, flexibility, stamina training, discipline, creativity, teamwork and stamina, among other things. CHARM aims to further promote and advance the sport in the country by giving cheerleaders opportunities to learn new techniques and test their skills in workshops, camps and competitions, as well as the chance to compete in international events like AUS Cheer.

Supporting CHARM this around is Air Asia X, which has come in as a Gold sponsor, and Skin Food, which is a Silver sponsor.

According to Azran Osman-Rani, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia X, “We're delighted to support CHARM who will fly the Malaysian flag high at this world championship. We are always keen to use sports, music and education as important branding pillars to engage with our passengers and promote the opportunity to fly to, and explore our many x-citing destinations all over the world.”

To date, CHARM has organised its own cheerleading championships, clinics and camps as well as participated in numerous other events. CHARM has the only certified coaches in the country, all of whom have world-recognised credentials, including those from the IFC, the National Cheerleading Spirit Safety and Education (NCSSE), and the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA) in the United States.

CHARM also has certified cheerleading judges, having recently conducted a judging course with the help of the ICU last week. Ten participants sat for the judging course which was held at CHARM’s premises on June 23 and 24, 2009.

###

About AirAsia X

AirAsia X, an associate of AirAsia with shareholders including the Virgin Group and AirAsia Berhad, is an award-winning low-cost long-haul airline launched in January 2007, and which commenced commercial services in November 2007. Having licensed its brand from AirAsia, AirAsia X's long-haul, low-cost business model is built on sustainable and continued delivery of everyday low fares. Currently it flies to Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth in Australia and to Hangzhou (Shanghai) and Tianjin (Beijing) in China, Taipei (Taiwan), and London. AirAsia X aims to cover destinations which are more than four hours in flight duration from Kuala Lumpur, complementing the existing AirAsia network and offering daily point-to-point frequencies to popular destinations in Australia, North Asia, India, the Middle East and Europe. AirAsia X enhances the in-flight experience with a number of innovative services and comfortable seats new to the low-cost model. For more information, please log onto www.airasia.com

Media contacts:

Beverley Hon, CHARM President - 019-313 6011, charmcheerleading@gmail.com

Tan Yee Ming, Team Malaysia captain - 012-207 9876

Gold sponsor

Silver sponsor