South Street the team's pinnacle
CHERISE Jones has lost count of how many costumes she has worn during her calisthenics career.
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But they number in the hundreds.
And she has no idea how many of those tiny sparkling sequins she has sewn on to those costumes.
Over 26 years, they easily number in the thousands.
Cherise began the sport of calisthenics at the ripe young age of three in Adelaide where she was born, with a rendition of Hey Little Hen.
In mum Linea Barber's words she was 'a cute little three-year-old'.
Upon moving to Horsham in 1979, Cherise joined the Horsham Calisthenics Club under the watchful eye of coach Jill Hill and stayed with the club for a record 16 years.
She then stepped up a peg by joining Ballarat club Jayde where she has been a member for the past five years.
Calisthenics is a combination of controlled exercises and gymnastics, marching, singing, simplified ballet, folk and modern dance.
It combines the best aspects of sport and art but also means applying lots of makeup and wearing plenty of fabulous costumes.
Cherise Jones loves it.
So much so she is finding it difficult imagining life after calisthenics.
She only ever warmed the bench in netball and 'can't play tennis for nuts' so the thought of retiring from something she has done for most of her life is a little daunting.
"It's something I've been doing for so many years, it's just part of my life," she said.
"Retirement is a scary prospect. I always wonder what I'm going to do after 26 years of doing the same thing every week.
I thought last year was going to be my last but I got coaxed back int it... the knees are starting to give way now, though.
- Cherise Jones
But while the knees try to withstand the test of time, Cherise admits she is in the best shape she's ever been.
"I seem to get better with age," she laughs.
"I'm more flexible and can do more stuff now than I did 10 years ago. I think it's the years of practice."
A career spanning more than a quarter of a century is certain to conjure up many a great moment, but for Cherise, there is one which stands out the most.
On a team level it was winning the prestigious Royal South Street eisteddfod in Ballarat in 1998.
South Street, covering 14 divisions, is the pinnacle for these flexible, club-twirling, rod-maneuvering competitors.
Cherise and her team-mates were in division one, the second highest level behind championship grade - a far cry from division 13 in Horsham.
Our mums were keeping score, so we knew we were in with a chance, it was pretty close
- Cherise Jones
"I was ecstatic to get up to such a high level and win. It's always good to win whatever you do but this was great.
"It was everything I imagined it to be."
Cherise divides her time between nursing and travelling to Ballarat once a week to teach intermediate calisthenics and train with her team.
It doesn't leave much time for practice at home but she admits to training mentally in the car while driving so many kilometres.
And one day she hopes to teach in Horsham.
"It would be great to get up to championship level but it's so far off," she said. "You have to win division one two years in a row to get into that level."
And her last thoughts on retirement?
"It's a bit scary when you think most of your life you've stayed with one thing," Cherise said.
"There are not too many people who can say they've stuck with one sport for 26 years.
"But it's a good team sport with great companionship; it's good for fitness and it's great fun."
