A celebration of spirit, energy and talent by cheer teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) was held on Saturday. The GMC Cheer Extravaganza brought CFL cheer teams to take over the stage with stunts and dances at the Duckworth Centre of the University of Winnipeg. All nine cheer teams of the CFL, along with the Winnipeg alumni team and the Canadian Football Cheerleaders Alumni team gathered at the event. Each cheer team put on approximately four-minute shows, with the alumni team performing highlights of each decade. Co-president of the Canadian Football Cheerleaders Alumni Organization Raeanne Milovanovic said the event was started in 1997 by the Edmonton Elks’ cheer team coach. “Dianne thought it was important to bring all of the cheer teams together to showcase the work that they had done throughout the year,” Milovanovic told CTV News on Saturday. She explained that there is much more to cheerleading than practicing a routine. “They are giving their time and their service to the community. They are attending volunteer events. They are doing charity events, the rec golf tournaments – they’re raising money. “They fund their own trips to Grey Cup, so they start fundraising at the beginning of each year.”
