Just like an eagle, Ria Aginta, a coach from an Indonesian cheerleading team, closely watched over her dynamic girls, who cheerfully clapped, jumped and danced in a training session.

Ria, 22, almost did not blink while monitoring the teen girls doing their routines, which involve body tossing and flipping. Ria and her team are the members of Taruna Bakti junior high school cheerleading from Bandung, West Java.

“Go make a pyramid [form]. Take care of your friends — don’t let them fall. Stay safe. Come on!” shouted energized Ria at the Ecovention hall in Taman Impian Jaya Ancol, North Jakarta, on Friday afternoon.

The cheerleaders, who could not hide their nervousness, hugged each other to boost their own morale – trying not to spoil their previous month of training after school.

“We can do it!” cheered the girls, who named themselves Charts team, with ear-to-ear grins.

Later in the day, Ria’s team was set to participate in the 2016 Asian Cheerleading Championship.

The championship is held in accordance with the Association for International Sport for All (TAFISA) World Games, a festival for traditional and recreational sports hosted by Indonesia in Greater Jakarta this year.

At another spot in the cheerleading arena, a team of Taiwanese girls stole the attention of other participants and spectators with their friendly upbeat performance. The girls, who held white pom-poms, were filled with self-esteem and beautiful smiles, owning the moment with their extraordinary routine.

The Taiwanese team’s coach, Jade Huang, seemed confident that her team would rock the competition as they had trained for two months.

“They are young girls and they have really beautiful smiles,” said 47-year-old Huang of her girls, who are between the ages of 15 and 20.

As many as eight countries — including Singapore, South Korea and the US — will participate in the competitive cheerleading championship at the TAFISA Games. The competitions, which are held until Saturday, offer eight categories, including double cheer pom, partner stunt and group stunt coed premier.

Asian Cheer Union (ACU) president Damien Ng expressed his excitement over the championship at the sixth annual TAFISA Games.

“The goal of the TAFISA Games is to recognize the role of sports and encourage participation, which is in line with our goals of promoting and encouraging growth and development of cheerleading,” he said.

Dian Anggraini, president of the Indonesian Cheer Association, hoped the government would support the sport. “A lot of our young athletes train unsafely without having proper equipment.”

The TAFISA Games offer interesting activities as well as entertainment for people living in Greater Jakarta. The organization, however, is poorly coordinated and publicized, which makes the international event less wellknown.

Most people who came to Taman Impian Jaya Ancol during the event did not know about the festival.

Coming from Bekasi, Muhammad Burhanuddin, 30, said he had never before heard of the event, reported Antara. “When I entered the Ancol area, I didn’t even get any information [about the World Games] from the park’s employees at the gate.”

Muhammad suggested the event’s organizers should send promotional staff around the Ancol park area to raise awareness about the festival.

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