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Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:28 am
by nacho
This is a paid article but essentially the cheerleaders are gone and a cringeworthy street dance crew will be established. Failing to resonate with any member or person in the crowd.

https://myaccount.news.com.au/sites/her ... =anonymous

Is this the beginning of our politically correct club? Again, I am SO happy I have downgraded to a 4-game membership.

The club seems to be losing a bit of touch here

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:15 pm
by yourhero
https://www.melbournestorm.com.au/news/ ... -game-day/

Image

Storm "street crew" step up to game day
melbournestorm.com.au
Thu 31 Jan 2019

In 2019 Storm is launching into an exciting new game day experience, with a hip hop dance crew set to bring more energy and more fan interaction to home games at AAMI Park.

The Storm "street crew" will celebrate Melbourne's thriving arts and culture scene – bringing together amazing performers from across hip hop, street, break dancing and acrobatics.

The Storm cheerleaders have been entertaining fans since the club played its first match in 1998 – now we want female and male entertainers to have the opportunity to be part of the Storm "street crew"!

The crew will continue to support the playing group from the moment they run out to Thunderstruck until the final siren sounds, showing the rest of the NRL how spectacular our dancers and performers are in Melbourne. Our fresh game day entertainment coincides with a new era for the club and we are excited to offer a home game experience everyone can enjoy.

Storm fans will be part of the journey every step of the way. Keep an eye on our social media for your chance to vote and help us name the street crew.

The club has once again engaged Spectrum Dance Studios for the audition process as we look for male and female hip hop, street dancers, breakers and acrobatic performers to join the Storm "street crew".

Auditions will be held on March 1 at Spectrum Dance Studios, 14-18 Banksia Street Burwood. Send your CV and headshot to castings@spectrumtalentagency.com.au by February 28.

Register at Spectrum Dance Studio on audition day from 9.30am for a 10.30am start.

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:36 pm
by yourhero
yourhero wrote:In 2019 Storm is launching into an exciting new game day experience, with a hip hop dance crew set to bring more energy and more fan interaction to home games at AAMI Park.
Is 'exciting' the right word here? I don't particularly care either way as I never have really paid attention to the cheerleaders, but more to the point, is this change what the majority of fans actually want?

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 1:39 pm
by nacho
We get to vote for the name?

Vote #1 - APEX

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 2:30 pm
by yourhero
I vote for;
1. The Cringe Crew
2. The Hip-Hop Hobos

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 3:11 pm
by Danger D
nacho wrote: Is this the beginning of our politically correct club? Again, I am SO happy I have downgraded to a 4-game membership.

The club seems to be losing a bit of touch here
Meh I couldn't care either way. I'm never interested in what the cheerleaders do anyway. I think the storm cheer squad in the stands does a better job of building up the atmosphere than the ground 'entertainment'. For what it's worth, I noticed that the main people the cheerleaders interacted with were young girls. I'm not sure if the hip hop dancers would be as engaging for the kids but maybe that's something the club can assess this year. If it isn't popular with the fans they can always bring back the cheerleaders next season.

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 4:38 pm
by blazza18
Lame.

The bigger Storm news today is keeping Jesse Bromwich in the leadership group still.

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 6:20 pm
by TC
nacho wrote:This is a paid article but essentially the cheerleaders are gone and a cringeworthy street dance crew will be established. Failing to resonate with any member or person in the crowd.
Is this the beginning of our politically correct club? Again, I am SO happy I have downgraded to a 4-game membership.

The club seems to be losing a bit of touch here
Who knows. Maybe they're onto something that will appeal to the younger crowd.
Do any of us serious footy fans go for the cheerleaders anyway? It's all just colour-and-movement during the boring bits.
Besides, these days people look at me a bit strange if I watch scantily clad girls who are young enough to be my daughters shake their tits and ass. "Ogle" is a word they use. ("Pervert" might be another one)
I don't see the need or value in cheerleaders anyway, so why not try something different?

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2019 9:49 am
by Lucas
OP is the one out of touch. This is the 21st century. There are places you can go if you wish to objectify women. These places are not Melbourne Storm games. The cheerleaders should have been ditched years ago.

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2019 12:27 pm
by Mister M
Danger D wrote: For what it's worth, I noticed that the main people the cheerleaders interacted with were young girls. I'm not sure if the hip hop dancers would be as engaging for the kids but maybe that's something the club can assess this year. If it isn't popular with the fans they can always bring back the cheerleaders next season.
I think there will most likely be the same level of engagement with the 'Street Crew' as the Cheerleaders were with the younger audience.

From the introductory video and the fact they are using the same dance studio for auditions as the previous cheerleading team came from, I think we will see many of the people who were cheerleaders in 2018 become members of the Street Crew in 2019.

The only difference we will see is that there is more men on the ground dancing, the dance moves are a bit less-sexualised and the outfits for the Street Crew are suitable to wear outside during a Melbourne winter.

Not a big difference for my personal enjoyment of the game-- but I believe it's a step forward for being inclusive of a larger audience.

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2019 8:53 am
by Danger D
Mister M wrote:and the outfits for the Street Crew are suitable to wear outside during a Melbourne winter.
Oh god I really hope so! It's a borderline work safety issue!

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:42 am
by Itzbek the Purple
yourhero wrote:I vote for;
1. The Cringe Crew
2. The Hip-Hop Hobos
3. The Bogan Brigade?

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2019 2:45 pm
by Mofo
My only issue with is that hundreds of girls used to try out each year to become part of the squad, many of them are professional dancers who may need this as source of income. Also I know my niece who is 7 really looked up to the cheerleaders and greatly enjoyed their contribution to the match day experience.

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 6:49 pm
by Ice
I don't base renewing my membership on what the entertainment is or what decisions the front office makes in regards to things like this that have absolutely no bearing on the field.

I only renew like I have done from the start purely for the team and to watch them do what they do week in week out. While there's plenty of decisions the Storm hierarchy have made over the years I've disagreed with, to be totally honest it means sweet FA in regards to whether I renew or not or what level of membership I get.

Re: Storm axe the cheerleaders

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 11:13 am
by Mattpoet
Well said