The JETS, a national champion cheer dance team from Fukui Commercial High School in Fukui, Japan, performed and watched the Viking cheer and pom squads dance in the gym Feb. 24.  The team brought 24 of its 48 members and took turns performing with the Lady Vikes in front of both students and members of the Japanese Embassy.

            The JETS have been performing for 40 years, ever since supporting the Fukui High School baseball team on its run to the Japanese national championship in 1971.  However, the squad began working on cheer dance routines in 2004 and changed its name because a team advisor believed it suited the fast paced high school life and that they wish to “fly higher into the sky like a jet.”

            Since, the JETS won the Japan National Cheer Dance Championship in 2008 and 2010.  In 2009, the team traveled to Florida and captured the NDA National Championship.

“Their success shows how hard they have worked,” junior cheerleader Christy Priego said.  “It shows in their confidence and that makes us want to work harder and be more confident when we perform.”

            The group made the trip to Bethesda after a cheerleader’s father, Takeo Mori, who works as the minister of economic affairs at the Japanese Embassy, suggested the visit.  From there, Shanti Shoji, the cultural affairs coordinator of the Japan Information and Culture Center at the Japanese Embassy, contacted Nikki Marafatsos, the Lady Vikes cheerleading coach.

            Shoji reached out to Marafatsos that the All-Star team would be stopping in D.C. to attend a brunch at the Japanese Embassy.  She also explained that it would be a great opportunity for the JETS to meet with American students who, are also doing cheer and dance before heading to Dallas to perform in the 2011 NDA National Championships.

            Marafatsos believes that the opportunity to watch a championship level team perform will have a meaningful impact on the cheer and poms squads.

            “This allows the girls the opportunity to witness another interpretation of cheer and dance, through a perspective of a different culture,” Marafatsos said.

            After both the cheerleaders and poms performed, the JETS took their turn to show why they are national champions.  The JETS wore silver gloves with an eclectic variety of prints and colors, and topped it off with a little black and gold hat.  During the fast paced performance, the JETS took off their gray checkered pants and revealed red sequin skirts.

            All three groups posed for a group picture and exchanged gifts.  The JETS gave the cheerleaders and poms a scroll and a charm for their cell phones, while the Lady Vikes handed the JETS a goody bag filled with Vikings paraphernalia.

            Although the JETS compete at a much higher level, Marafatsos personally thinks that the performance helped her cheerleading team because of the similarities within the squads.

            “Specifically for the cheerleaders, because they are a relatively young team, this meeting is a great opportunity for them to see what an All-Star routine consists of, opening up to them up to a different level and expectations and preparing them for future competitions,” Marafatsos said.