For those of you that don't know, Crystal Palace football club have a team of cheerleaders to entertain fans, players and first aiders before the match and at half time. For sport relief this year a group of Palace fans have joined in the routine, in the centre circle, at half time, during an actual game. Go them.
I have spent more time than I would really care to think about getting slowly hypothermic at Crystal Palace games when providing first aid cover. Despite the fact that I am most emphatically not into football, they have always been quite fun. Possibly because the football is a bit of a sideshow. First off they have a selection of cheesy playlists to play before the match, a club song which always creates a tidal wave of cheering when it's played, mascots who dance and wind up the crowd, real eagles (the club's mascot) to fly over the pitch and a generally good atmosphere. Oh and did I mention the squad of beautiful bronzed young women cavorting about at ever opportunity?
On the rare occasions we have had to treat people, the fans have always been a good laugh and willing to help out where possible which is always a big plus. Treating (and I imagine being treated) in a crowd is neither fun nor easy but it's so much harder if you constantly have to watch your back and keep an escape route in mind. Never an issue with Palace. What made me really respect and admire them was a couple of years ago, when the club was on the verge of going bankrupt, they had a whip-round on a massive scale to raise the money owed to St. John Ambulance for our services (an amount that ran into several tens of thousands of pounds. And before anyone says anything, yes we are a charity but because of the scale of what we do and the fact that we have lots of specialist equipment and vehicles to maintain as well as ongoing member training we charge a fee for coming out on duty. This fee represents cost price and not profit). The fans really didn't have to do this. They paid their ticket fees, it's not therefore unreasonable for them to expect all this to be taken care of. What made the gesture even more touching is the fact that Crystal Palace and the surrounding area is not a well off one, it's not the most poverty stricken by far but it's still far from rolling in it. The fans mostly come from here so the fact that they were willing to put their hands in their pockets means a lot.
So back to the video. Apparently the fans/victims had a couple of training sessions with the Crystal Girls (spending time with lovely girls in lycra... Ok it's sounding less bad) before their debut (and I suspect only) performance. They carried it off with quite some aplomb. Not only did they get up and get out there - in the same figure hugging outfits - but they managed to bust some serious moves too. Go them.
I have to say, I don't get embarrassed easily. I will do many things for money and if it's to raise money for charity then there is almost no limit to the humiliation which I will endure. Almost! Despite the offer of lycra clad ladies and raising funds for good causes I think I might draw the line there. I don't have a problem with getting up in drag. I do have serious issues with my ability to dance. The fact that these guys did it, allowed evidence of such activity to be recorded and did it in front of their mates earns them a lot of respect in my book.
Go on, if you haven't had a look already then click the link. Watch a couple of their other videos too... although maybe not if you're in the office.
JR
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