Moving To Another Country To Cheer?

[SmileCat]

Ever since I was around 12 or so, I always dreamed of moving to another country to just experience life outside of america for a couple months. Two places I always dreamed of, Canada and Australia.
So now that i'm going into my senior year, after high school I'm seriously considering making this work, but also adding cheerleading into the mix. I'm still unsure of the amount of time I would like to spend away, but I would definitely want to be there long enough to cheer on a team.
My question is, do you (as in mainly the people who live in Canada or Australia or anyway else perhaps) think this is possible? Would gyms in your areas accommodate someone from the US to join their team? Are there any programs that work with cheerleaders wish to do so?
Any advice to help my decision? Thank you for your help!

 

[Emily Jane]

If you were to study abroad for a year once you're at university, you could join the foreign university's team. I would imagine that here in the UK many coaches would very accommodating.

 

[SmileCat]

If you were to study abroad for a year once you're at university, you could join the foreign university's team. I would imagine that here in the UK many coaches would very accommodating.

Hmm, that sounds good! But i'm not sure if I want to actually attend school anywhere else. I'd definitely have to look into it Any schools you suggest? I don't know much about the schools over in UK so what are some basic requirements to get in?

 

[fierceeflyeer]

I'm from Canada and I am positive many of our gyms would be very accommodating to you. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me!

 

[Emily Jane]

Hmm, that sounds good! But i'm not sure if I want to actually attend school anywhere else. I'd definitely have to look into it Any schools you suggest? I don't know much about the schools over in UK so what are some basic requirements to get in?

Well I don't know what it's like for an American going abroad, but I know at the school I want to go to here in England that if you want to, you can study abroad or work in an industry related to your degree course, and to be eligible you have to get certain grades in your end of year exams (I think it's like 60 or 70%). I don't think there are any requirements set by foreign universities for incoming students that are studying abroad, I think all of that is handled internally by your regular school.

Lots of universities have links set up with foreign unis where they frequently send their students, so to get an idea of where you could go, I would go on the schools that you are interested in's websites and see what links they have (on their website they will probably explain the study abroad process more thoroughly too). In the UK there's this group called the Russell Group (Russell Group: Our Universities) which is basically a group of academically well regarded universities, so going to any of them for a year couldn't hurt

 

[5-6-7-8]

The issue you may face living abroad is getting a visa for a length of time. If you are going jus for cheer and that experience, you would probably need a visitors visa and I dont think this last a cheer season.

That may be why a study abroad program would help / work, since that would take care of the visa.

 

[newcheerdad]

The issue you may face living abroad is getting a visa for a length of time. If you are going jus for cheer and that experience, you would probably need a visitors visa and I dont think this last a cheer season.

That may be why a study abroad program would help / work, since that would take care of the visa.

I was just going to post something like this. You would have a pretty hard time getting a visa just to be a cheerleader, but shouldn't have the same problem if you combine cheer with a study abroad program. Getting a work visa is also possible, depending on the country, but as someone right out of high school it might be more challenging.

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[auscheerflyer]

The cheer season is a little different in Australia, but it matches up with the school/university calendar which is convenient. The season goes from around February (first comp around June) up until October/November. I agree with the other posters, it would be easiest to combine with a study abroad program.
There are LOTS of all star gyms that would happily welcome you here
One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the university cheer teams (including the one I am on) function very independently to the university. We do not cheer at any sports games, do not train at the university itself and actually compete in the All Star division, not collegiate. I'm not sure if this would affect getting a VISA, but it might.. and could limit your choice to the teams here that are truly 'college' teams.
A working VISA could also be an awesome option for you. I'm sure there would be some gyms that would be interested in taking you on as some sort of part time assistant coach, or coach to lower level teams as I bet you have lots of useful knowledge to share with us.
Hope that helped!

 

[cheerforeverever]

Study abroad! It's one of the best experiences you'll ever have, and going to school while you're over there will help you learn more about your surroundings/the culture in general as well as help you meet people! Most colleges just want you to have a decent GPA before doing a study abroad. You also have to work out what credits you'd get from the experience to transfer back to your university before going and possibly get a student visa if you're over there for a full year, but it's well worth the trouble. There are loads of companies that work with colleges and your university may have some themselves as well......Example of the one my best friend did in Spain to help give you an idea of what's out there :Study Abroad Programs for University Students - API
I've also studied abroad (though I did it through my university) and can't emphasize enough how much of a life changing trip it was. It truly is a once in a life time experience.

 

[youbetterwork]

You're welcome to Sweden! There have been/are some americans cheering in Sweden. I know one person got his visa because he's coaching full time as a job here!

Most european teams work the same way as allstar teams in the US with practices, comps and such. Many teams go to Worlds too! North of Europe are very good at english and it's definitely possible to be a foreign student here. Middle/south of Europe are not so good at english though. As you mentioned Australia, Canada or the UK would work too! All have quite many allstar teams I think.

 

[SmileCat]

Thank you all so much for your help! I've always considered studying abroad, but due to high cost of the program alone is just too much :/ I've also had friends who have been a "host" family to foreign students for a summer or so, but most programs I've researched have had too high of a price as well just for the program.
Hopefully if I can find a team that will accept me as a coach to younger girls (which I did last season) and let me coach so maybe I can get a visa? Not sure!
If not next year, I WILL have my experience before I'm too old!
Maybe I can just nugget in with a family for a few months.. hehe

 

[Aussiekat]

PM me for more info if you want to come to Australia. We'd love to have you at our gym I don't think it's too hard for Americans to get holiday working visas because we have some sort of country exchange deal. So you can work part time, hug koalas and cheer!

 

[SmileCat]

Okay this has nothing to do with anything, but omg. I just looked up plane ticket prices from here (Tampa, FL) to random countries and WOW. How do you guys afford that!
I never knew the price to fly since my dad is a pilot and I fly for free.. But wow. That's a lot of money.

 

[cheerforeverever]

Okay this has nothing to do with anything, but omg. I just looked up plane ticket prices from here (Tampa, FL) to random countries and WOW. How do you guys afford that!
I never knew the price to fly since my dad is a pilot and I fly for free.. But wow. That's a lot of money.

Saved up starting in high school and worked every summer until junior year of college to pay for my plane ticket/study abroad program.

 

[SmileCat]

Saved up starting in high school and worked every summer until junior year of college to pay for my plane ticket/study abroad program.

Oh my! I have only a few hundred saved up in the bank, plus my job now. I'm actually really terrible at saving money
Kudos to you on your hard work!