Scottish Claymores - American Football in Scotland
Miller Scottish Claymores Cheerleaders
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Saturday May 1 – Miller Overnight, Gaia, Edinburgh, 11pm.

Sunday May 9 – Claymores v Frankfurt Galaxy, Hampden Park, Glasgow.


Saturday May 29 - Claymores vs Berlin Thunder, Glasgow

Wednesday June 2 – Miller Download Festival, Glasgow

Thursday June 3 – Miller Download Festival, Glasgow


Saturday June 5 - Claymores vs Cologne Centurions, Glasgow


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  Linzi's visit to the Claymore!


Linzi looks over the platform
At the crack of dawn on 24th May six brave cheerleaders began their adventure to the Claymore oilrig in the North Sea. Kelly R, Ali, Claire S, Karen, Lesley and I along with Debbie made a visit to the Claymore and put on a little show for the riggers all in aid of charity.

In the wee hours of a Saturday morning we departed Glasgow and headed up north to Aberdeen on a mini bus. The journey took about 3 hours but it passed by fairly quickly as we nervously chatted about how we thought it would be to fly by helicopter for the first time.

On reaching Aberdeen airport we made our way into a little training room where we began our rebreather training. We watched a video on how to stay safe in a helicopter and how to escape if the helicopter goes under water. At this point I was no longer excited about the helicopter journey, more like scared out my wits! We were then shown how to breathe under water. We each had to breathe into a rebreather bag and breathe off our own air for a minute. Pressure was then applied to the bag to show how breathing is affected when under water. It was a horrible feeling. I was left feeling light headed.


Big smiles
We made our way to the departure lounge where we were given VIP treatment. We had our own room with tea, bacon rolls and Danish pastries. (A perfect treat when you've been up since 5am!). It was then time for the 'suit up' to fly. This was the most ridiculous outfit I had ever worn in my life. A full body jump suit with feet, a whistle and gloves included! Then earplugs and headphones just to top it off! Not the most glamorous moment of my cheerleading career. I was beginning to get excited now as we ventured out on to the airfield to see our helicopter. The propellers started up and the noise was tremendous. We boarded the helicopter and took off, destination…The Claymore!

Being in the helicopter was an amazing experience. Everyone was so excited and my anxieties from the safety video earlier were all gone. On approach to The Claymore we couldn't help but notice how small the helipad was. Everyone had a look of astonishment as we were all thinking the same " There's no way we can land on that little circle!" As we came closer we soon realised it was actually quite big and we made a perfect landing. Touchdown Claymore!


With the drilling team high up on the platform
Once on the rig we had lunch and were then taken on a guided tour of the site. This involved a change from the flying suit into yet another stylish outfit: boiler suit, safety glasses and a hard hat! As we were shown around we were advised not to look down. However, what did we do? Of course, we all looked down, only to our horror to find that all that separated us from the rig and the 50ft drop into the North Sea were some slippery metal bars! I was a little nervous now thinking that one false move and it's a plunge into the icy water. After all the excitement we were taken into shelter and given a talk on how the oil is removed and purified. Needless to say this made little sense to us!

It was now our chance to show the riggers what we do. Dinner, rehearsal, make-up, hair, costume and we were ready for show time! We performed a few of our favourite routines and had a few workers up on the dance floor strutting their stuff. Our performance went down exceptionally well and the turn out was great. People flew from other rigs just to watch! Sadly though it was time for us to leave. Some pictures were taken and people gave generously to the oilrig's charity of choice and then we packed up and headed back to Glasgow, not looking forward to the long journey home that awaited us.

The reception we received on The Claymore was amazing and the experience was one that I will never forget. Everyone had fun that day, cheerleaders and riggers alike and we were all pleased to be part of the occurrence in aid of charity. Who knows maybe we will venture back out for another visit in the New Year!