A Bermudian cheerleader living in the US wants to start a local group for her athletic passion.

Sáyuri Dowling, 18, said she would like to see a cheerleading branch in Bermuda to give youngsters the same opportunity she had.

“I personally feel like cheerleading has really helped me gain a lot of confidence because it’s a sport that really allows you to showcase who you are on the mat and showcase that confidence,” Ms Dowling said.

“I think that other people, especially the youth in Bermuda, should be able to experience the same thing that I’ve experienced.

“It’s really something that I want to make big in Bermuda, not just something that’s gate kept.”

Ms Dowling, who performs with the Moonlight team from the Stingray All-Stars gym in Georgia, now hopes to raise about $4,250 to fund her way through the rest of the cheerleading season and secure a spot in a collegiate-level team.

She said that the cash would go towards the Summit Championship, which runs between April 30 and May 3 in Orlando, Florida, as well as paying off earlier cheerleading fees.

Funds would also go towards her college-level meets, which would involve a $450 tryout fee to join a team, a monthly $365 gym membership fee and the cost of each competition, such as interstate travel and insurance.

Ms Dowling said she wanted to keep her passion alive and build a career from it — but needed the community’s help in doing so.

She is confident in her ability to “end the season on a high note” and make a name for herself after her team this month won the MTA Cheerleading Competition, one of the largest all-star cheerleading contests in the US.

On the Summit Championship, Ms Dowling said: “I want to win the competition and do well.

“To attend is really good but I want to win the competition as well.”

Ms Dowling said she took up the sport at the age of 15, while she was living in Britain.

She explained that was encouraged by her friends to try something new after doing dance for years.

Ms Dowling said: “At first it was a big jump from dance to cheer because you have more things in a routine to do in cheerleading.

“You’re holding up people, you’re doing jumps, you’re doing dance and you’re doing a lot of choreography.”

Ms Dowling sharpened her skills after moving to the US about two years later.

It was there that she learnt skills such as tumbling, which involves gymnastic-style flips, and “stomp-and-shake” styles, which feature heavy stomps, claps and rhythmic movements.

She said: “It was different. I feel like the strive to perfecting their skills and perfecting their tumbling was something that I hadn’t seen before.

“That’s when I realised it’s what I wanted to do — I wanted to stay in the US and do all-star cheerleading.”

Ms Dowling said that, throughout the experience, her mother helped to finance her passion.

However, now that her mother is studying in university, they no longer have the funds to keep Ms Dowling’s plans alive.

The athlete admitted that cheerleading was often overlooked because people did not recognise how physically demanding it was.

“It’s a very interesting sport because it’s very under-represented around the world,” she explained.

“Not many people necessarily know what cheerleading is — they think of it as pom-poms and cheering for a sports team, but when you join the competitive atmosphere it’s something totally different.”

She hopes to return to Bermuda in May to offer cheerleading classes over the summer to give youngsters a taste of the action.

Ms Dowling would then return to Georgia to start her freshman year at Clark Atlanta University.

• To contact Ms Dowling, e-mail sayuri.dowling@gmail.com