From their humble "cow shed" in Albion Park in NSW's Illawarra region, dance troupe Acromazing have certainly come a long way.
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The crew of 19 girls from Oak Flats Albion Park Acrobatics took home the crown at the nation's most high-profile talent show on Sunday evening, winning Australia's Got Talent's tenth season and pocketing the $100,000 prize money.
Through a series of gravity-defying stunts, lifts and flips that flowed like water into one another, the troupe captured the hearts of viewers and judges with a routine that judge Shane Jacobson described as "poetry in motion".
Head coach Kim Lacey said the girls "were still in shock" from the announcement.
"It's surreal - we're walking around like zombies," Ms Lacey said.
For Ms Lacey, acrobatic gymnastics runs in the family - her daughter Shelby is the troupe's choreographer and her other daughter Maddy dances in the troupe alongside her three nieces.
She said Sunday night was a "big night" for the Lacey family, and for all the families of the girls, scattered from Mount Kembla down to Shellharbour.
Warilla Bowling Club was packed with family, friends and supporters of the team as the episode aired, and when the winning announcement came, the room just "exploded".
While the girls are still riding the high of success, Ms Lacey said Acromazing was by no means an overnight success.
Not only had they been planning to audition for the show's 2020 and 2021 seasons, which were cancelled due to COVID, they've also had gruelling training schedules for years.
They train dozens of hours per week in their "cow shed" - a large warehouse in Albion Park that the club has been using since the 80's.
"These girls are athletes - they represent NSW, they train 24 to 25 hours a week in a cow shed that is a freezer in winter," Ms Lacey said.
"It's a very taxing sport that's hard on the body, [but] they rose to the occasion."
To practice their full routines, they have to go out to the nearby football field, but no matter what they face, the girls don't complain - they just adapt and work harder, she said.
"If there's anyone who deserves it [to win], it's these kids," she said.
The pressure was on to create a grand-final winning routine after the semi-finals, Ms Lacey said, and the team had just three days to put it together.
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She "threw all the kids into the cow shed" from 6.30am to 8pm, nutting out each each daring dive and flip masterfully choreographed by Ms Lacey's daughter Shelby.
The team's hard work paid off at the finals, when viewers voted Acromazing as the show's winner.
Ms Lacey expressed her gratitude to the Illawarra community who voted and supported their girls.
With the prize money, the troupe plan to give each performer a cut for their hard work, and set a fund aside to upgrade their old "cow shed".
Rosie Bensley
Illawarra Mercury trainee journalist and newest recruit.
Illawarra Mercury trainee journalist and newest recruit.
