YouTube star/comedian Prakash Daniel is all out to support his hometown cheerleaders, Zodiac Co-ed of SMK Kepong!
Through the unique arrangement of the CHEER Celebrity Supporter contest, Prakash hopes to boost the team’s popularity as much he can.
Prakash nails his first pyramid after surprising two-time CHEER champions Zodiac Co-ed at their school, SMK Kepong.
– Photo: SAMUEL ONG/The Star
“I told them, anything related to their stuff, that they’re gonna post online – to please tag me also. It’ll be really good if they can connect with me and that way I can repost their stuff.”
Prakash also plans to leverage on his social media sites to promote the team to his followers.
“I’m also gonna meet up with some of my comedian friends and send them photos to help spread the word.”
As someone who also grew up and was schooled in Kepong, Prakash is happy a positive spirit lives on in today’s young people. “It’s nice to see that kids in school are still doing things that they really love,” he said.
The cheerleaders were eager to meet Prakash too. After a quick round of hellos and fist bumps, they got straight to work.
They sat him down, made him stretch his legs as wide as possible (which wasn’t much at all) for the warm-up and got one of their members to push down hard on his back. With good reason of course – Prakash didn’t know this then, but they were going to make him attempt a toe-touch!
In the end, Prakash only managed a star jump — and tweaked his hamstring while he was at it!
Prakash struggles during warm up before attempting the “toe touch” move. Notice the difference in flexibility…
– Photo: SAMUEL ONG / The Star
Prakash’s far from toe-touch jump.
– Photo: SAMUEL ONG / The Star
“Cheerleading is very physically demanding. I tried to do a toe jump, a toe-touch? I can’t even get the terms right. And their stretches are so hard! Who does that?” said Prakash, looking a little bemused by the experience.
“I realised today it’s not just all about pompoms, it’s actually a lot of hard work. These kids are really determined and focused on what they do. They’re giving it their best.”
The cheerleader help ease Prakash’s pain after he pulled his hamstring.
– Photo: SAMUEL ONG/The Star
He also feels SMK Kepong’s cheerleaders are unique because of their sheer numbers.
“They have four teams in this school — the co-ed team, all-boys team, all-girls team and a junior team. The cheerleaders here actively recruit their non-cheerleading friends to gather more interest in the sport.”
The cheerleaders told Prakash that although they only train on weekends at the moment, they will start training daily in the weeks leading up to the competition.
“I’ve read about CHEER in the newspapers, but I never knew how demanding the sport is, and how much discipline it requires,” he said.
A happy Zodiac family with their new found friend.
– Photo: SAMUEL ONG/TheStar
The Zodiac alumni have also been very involved in training the current team, teaching them everything they learnt from their years of experience.
“It’s really nice to see how the previous students are helping out this year’s students. It’s like a family thing, which is really cool lah,” said Prakash.
Zodiac cheerleader Phun Hew Quan, 16, said: “We really appreciate (Prakash’s) support! He was very nice, and very funny, and we hope he can come watch us perform at the finals.”
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