Jamie Guedes thought she had nothing to lose when she filled out the application and submitted the audition video for the 2024 Global Dance & Cheer Games last winter, even though she didn’t expect anything to come of it.
Instead, Guedes and the members of the KGC Cheerleading Senior Black Team had the experience of a lifetime.
With this first submission, KGC secured a place at the coveted event held in Honolulu in May, where KGC took second place in the open division in the international competition.
“We talked about (the possibility), but nobody got their hopes up because the chance of us getting a spot was slim,” said Guedes, who co-founded the program 17 years ago and coaches the senior black team with Leah Pereira. “We didn’t think anything of it. It was free to enter, it was free to submit the video. So we thought, why not? Let’s see what happens. I caught the kids’ reaction on video (when we told them we were going) and they were all so shocked.
“We were all in shock until the day we got there. It was still like, ‘I can’t believe it, are we really going to Hawaii?’ No one really believed it until we got there.”
Host CheerBrandz handled registration and some expenses, but significant funding was still needed for the Kearny-based team to come to Honolulu. Guedes said raising the money needed was a true community effort by local sponsors and donors, as well as fundraising efforts by KGC members.
“They do a lot,” said Guedes. “They are the ones who help raise funds, develop ideas, network, find sponsors and organize events.”
“Jenn Esteves is our consultant who takes care of everything behind the scenes. She makes sure everything is done for the teams, organizes events and helps with anything we need. Bianca Pesantez coaches the Junior Red team with me and also runs our fundraising. Stephanie Comp organizes all the events and helps find sponsors for the teams.”
In total, the team was able to spend seven days in Honolulu, as the competition took place from May 17-19, allowing all participants to spend time on the beach and explore the surrounding area.
Although Guedes and Pereira were keen for the participants to enjoy the trip, it was still a competition at the end of the day and they were pleased with the team’s performance compared to their older competitors.
The ages of the Senior Black team members range from 14 to 20, while due to different international rules, some of the other teams had players in their mid-twenties.
“Obviously we go there to compete, but we didn’t want it to be too stressful,” Guedes said. “We wanted them to have fun while we were there too. We did do a lot of training while we were there, but we tried not to put so much pressure on the kids. It was more about doing what we can and just having fun while we’re out there.”
“It was their last competition and they wanted to win, but they also just wanted to put in a good performance.”
The Global Games marked the conclusion of the KGC’s 17th competitive season since Guedes and her cousin Justine Esteves founded the organization.
In those 17 years, KGC Cheer, which now consists of three different teams and is open to boys and girls ages 6 and up, has won 23 national and global championships.
Jason Bernstein | Sports journalist at the Observer
Jason Bernstein joined the Observer as a sportswriter in March 2022 following Jim Hague’s retirement. He has extensive experience as a sportswriter, including stints at NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger).
