G20 celebrates cracker kids

On Saturday afternoon, about 20 school children varying in age from prep to year nine, proudly made their way along the river boardwalk to the Brisbane Entertainment and Convention Centre in South Bank.

Whips in hand, the Saint Mary's Catholic College students from Kingaroy sliced their way through the air in front of them as they marched, performing various routines - the sound of cracking ringing in their wake.

Cracking whips alongside their idols the Crack Up Sisters, it's hard to believe this group only formed a year ago after their teacher Lauren Arrell took them on an excursion to the Jackie Howe Wool Festival at Jondaryan.

"We were at the festival and they had a whip-cracking demonstration," Lauren said.

"The kids were really engaged by it and afterwards they said to me, 'Well, we can crack whips; maybe we can do that'."

And that they did.

Under the watchful eye of the talented Paul Simms, the Saint Mary's College whip-cracking squad grew from two to 20.

"Most of these kids come off properties and so they had learnt the basic cattleman's crack at home from their parents or grandparents," Lauren said.

"It was then just a matter of learning the skills and tricks they perform today.

"The way I see it is Brisbane has a rowing team, because they're on the river. We're a rural school so why not have a whip-cracking team?

"We really encourage that rural diversity. It's really part of who they are - it's the context in which we're living."

Lauren said not only have the children excelled at the sport, but it has also been phenomenal for improving their self-esteem thanks to the family-like culture of the squad.

"Their team building has been amazing, especially for the young girls in high school.

"Not too many kids can say they have a school whip-cracking team.

"It's unique, but I think what has made it are the kids themselves."

It was not long after forming the squad that they managed to catch the eye of professional whip-cracking performers the Crack Up Sisters.

"It was really by accident," Lauren said. "Some of our kids were at the Toowoomba Carnival Flowers last year where they [the Crack Up Sisters] were performing and got called out to demonstrate. I think they were quite thrown by how well the girls could crack."

After connecting through this chance meeting, the Crack Up Sisters jumped at the opportunity to travel out to the Saint Mary's Catholic College squad to conduct workshops with the children to improve their performance skills.

"The Crack Up Sisters added a performance level to the kids' routines, so in these workshops we particularly worked on humour, but also the performing arts skills.

"So things like how to speak to a crowd and how to engage a crowd, as well as acrobatic skills."

This style of performance was recently rolled out at the Chinchilla Grandfather Clock Campdraft, where the children were lapped up by the crowd for their humour and talent.

Other performances included the rural discovery day at the Brisbane Showgrounds in May, the Ekka, Nanango Music Muster, as well as a chance to perform at the event that first ignited the children's love for the sport - the Jackie Howe Festival.

Looking to the future, Lauren said the children seemed to be getting more enjoyment out of the performances than the competitions.

"The kids are determined to keep the team going. Our principal acknowledges that it is now very much part of school culture.

"They're even starting buying headpieces and microphones, and looking at getting equipment to keep it going. And as long as the children and parents are happy with the sport, why not keep it going?

"It's such a big part of Australian heritage; I think it's really wonderful they're keeping whip cracking alive."