A group of 18 dads from Edmonton, with kids in Perfect Storm Athletics, surprised their daughters with a viral cheerleading routine of their own last week.
The fathers called themselves “the weathermen” and had three secretive practices with trainers from Perfect Storm Athletics to learn the routine.
They performed the three-minute routine in front of their kids on April 14 at a showcase in Calgary called 4Cast that featured all of the Perfect Storm clubs in Alberta.
“We have guys from professional athletes to business owners to people working in the trades,” Dianne Greenough, owner of Perfect Storm Athletics, said.
“The sizes, the shapes, the heights was so unique. They were just such a special unique group.”
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Greenough said she got the idea from a video another club shared online, but said the dads didn’t just want the routine to be funny, instead they also wanted it to be good.
“The bottom line is they love their kids. They wanted to do this for their kids. They were ready to be coached,” she said.
“Of all the teams in my 40 years that I’ve coached, I’ve never had a team that was so respondent to change, to critique [and] to making it better.”
The three dads Global News interviewed said the training and performance resulted in a new appreciation for the sport.
“Now when they walk into the gym, they understand how hard their kids work. They have a whole new respect for their kids,” Greenough said.
Watch below: Raw video of the dads’ cheer routine (Courtesy: YouTube/caasious)
Father-daughter bonding
Trevor Robertson is one of the 18 men who was on the dads’ cheerleading team. He has two daughters, aged 13 and 15, in the cheerleading club.
“Something a little different. Something I haven’t ever done before, but man I’m glad I did it. It was so much fun,” Robertson said. “Getting out on the mat, the crowd just went wild.”
Robertson said his daughters knew he was involved, but he didn’t tell them anything about the routine. He said being involved helped him gain a whole new appreciation for the sport and a connection with his daughters.
“Two teenage daughters talking to their dad is not number one on the list of things that is cool to do. So this was a great way to get engaged with them.”
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Jay Germain has two kids who train with Perfect Storm, a daughter and son.
“I thought, ‘I am not a cheerleader, what am I getting myself into?’ But yeah, I’m so glad I did it,” Germain said. He said his kids were in “disbelief” when they saw his performance.
“I think every dad out there did it for our kids. Every time we tried to do a skill, we thought, ‘OK well my kid will be watching, we got to nail this.’ Cause we keep telling them to work hard, now we got to do it.”
One of the dads in the group is no stranger to competition. Marc Kennedy is an Olympic gold medalist in curling and has two daughters in Perfect Storm Athletics, aged 10 and eight.
“We didn’t want to go out there and embarrass ourselves,” Kennedy said. “We wanted to go out there and show our kids that we could work hard and put something together.”
Although there’s no definite plans for the dads to perform again, the club’s owner said the club will likely continue doing it on some level.
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