Two regional junior competitors are dancing their way to the 2018 World Junior Dancesport Championships to be held in Europe.
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Berkley Wood, 14, Bendigo and Sam Brown, 15, Shepparton now have championship status after their achievements in standard ballroom and the new vogue genre at the Australian Dancesport Championships in early December.
Wood said the pair had been training extremely hard for the entire year with the key goal being victory at the championships.
“We put much more effort in, we worked much harder this year, we knew that we could do it so we worked so much harder and we trained a lot more, it worked out in the end,” Wood laughed.
Brown said the duo travel to Melbourne every Wednesday and Sunday to train and that they also meet in Shepparton on Friday and Saturday for additional dancing lessons.
In total the pair spend approximately 15 hours per week training together, minus the significant amount of time spent driving between Melbourne, Shepparton and Bendigo.
“It’s such a boost in our confidence and so proud of ourselves and our coaches because all the handwork we did during the year has paid off,” Brown said.
The pair are now well on their way to competing at the 2018 World Junior Championships which also means there will be a few extra training sessions per week.
“It’s going to be extremely hard, we will have to put even more effort in and strive for our goal and keep working hard and think positively about it,” Wood said.
Brown said that in the lead-up to the international event there are a series of local events where the duo will also be competing.
Wood first started dancing when she was 4-years-old as a ballerina and eventually moved to ballroom dancing where her father also had success and after she became fascinated with Dancing with the Stars.
Brown was first introduced to the art of dancing from his older brother and decided to follow in his footsteps and has no plans of giving it up.
“It’s so good for my fitness, I get to meet people all over Australia and learn new skills,” Brown said.
They first met at a chance meeting while Wood was having a lesson at a dance studio in Shepparton from one of Brown’s coaches, the pair were introduced and are now on their way to global success.
