SANFL club axes last cheerleaders in the league because the activity is no longer popular

Two main factors have led to the decision to call time on the last remaining cheerleading group in South Australian football.

The North Adelaide Football Club has revealed the Rockettes will not be returning in season 2025. Picture: Supplied

The last SANFL club to axe their cheerleading program says “time constraints” between games, and the activity becoming less popular was the reason for the decision.

On Tuesday, the North Adelaide Football Club (NAFC) announced its cheerleaders, the Rockettes, would “not be returning in season 2025”.

“The Rockettes have been a longstanding part of our pre-game entertainment however, as our match day experience evolves and our commitments during this time increase, the opportunity for their performances has unfortunately diminished,” the club wrote online.

“We understand that this change may be disappointing, but we are dedicated to meeting contemporary community expectations.

“With all clubs now fielding both male and female teams across all age groups, we believe it is the right time to make this transition.”

The club paid special acknowledgment to Catherine Nairn and all the cheerleaders who had dedicated their time “over the course of many years”.

Speaking further on the decision, NAFC chief executive Craig Burton told Stacey Lee on FIVEAA that there was “too much” going on between games and that there was no longer a need for the beloved pre-game tradition.

North Adelaide Football Club. Picture: File

“It’s really come down to the time available to do what we have to do between the finish of a reserves game, or it might be a women's’ league game and the men’s league starting,” he said.

“If you imagine you’re in the grandstand and you’re watching what’s going on, you’ve got 40 guys shaking hands after a game, you’ve got umpires and their support crew walking off, you’ve got teams ready to run out, we’re playing songs for each team, (and) you’ve got a dance group trying to perform in front of all that.

“So, everything thrown in, it was just getting too much, so unfortunately, the cheerleaders were the ones we had to … I guess, move on.”

Mr Burton said the popularity and excitement around cheerleading at sports games had also dropped over the years, saying that the activity was not the same as it once was.

“If you look at the transition of that type of activity in sport, it’s diminished over the years,” he said.

“The only ones (cheerleaders) I’ve seen now are the professional dancers or semi-professionals with the Strikers and the 36ers, I can’t think of any semi-professional sports that are doing this.”

Previously, the Rockettes have performed dance routines at all the league home games played at Prospect Oval during the SANFL season.