Pacific STUNT Head Coach Brandon Shaw traveled to Australia with the San Francisco 49ers for a historic moment—the team’s Sept. 10 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, the first NFL regular-season game ever played in Australia. He returned to Pacific with a firsthand look at the 49ers’ team culture and ideas to help shape the university’s new STUNT program.

Shaw worked alongside the 49ers’ traveling entertainment group, joining the Gold Rush cheerleaders and team mascots for a week of community appearances, football clinics and cultural experiences. He served as a handler for the cheerleaders and assisted with the group’s entertainment activities, giving him a firsthand look at what it takes to bring the 49ers experience to life far from home.

The opportunity grew out of connections Shaw made through Pacific's partnership as the Official Higher Education Partner of the San Francisco 49ers.

Shaw and the group visited wildlife sanctuaries, where they held and fed kangaroos, and met Australian athletes, mascots and other professionals. He also experienced the passion surrounding the 49ers during an official NFL watch party, where thousands of fans gathered to support San Francisco.

"The town was painted red," Shaw said, describing the atmosphere throughout Melbourne. "From murals and everything else, the locals showed us so much love."

One of the trip's most memorable moments came when Shaw found himself part of a Guinness World Record.

More than 1,400 cheerleaders gathered at Federation Square in Melbourne to perform the same choreographed routine, setting a new world record for the largest cheerleading dance. Participants received a short video tutorial before the event, allowing the massive group to learn the choreography ahead of time. The record came down to the final minutes.

"It was actually like a last-minute thing that passed the record," Shaw said. "We were short and then I think with like 30 minutes left, we ended up breaking the record."

The most meaningful part of the trip for Shaw was a community outreach visit to a children’s hospital where the group spent time with patients and families and introduced them to American football.

The experience also gave Shaw an opportunity to learn from the Gold Rush about how to build a strong team culture.

“I had asked the coach how she got her culture to where it is and she gave me team bonding activities and ways to be over-the-top as a team with passion and energy,” Shaw said. “Some of the 49ers cheerleaders will be coming out to our practices to explain the importance of a positive and supportive culture.”

As Shaw prepares for Pacific STUNT's inaugural season this spring, he plans to put those lessons into practice, creating a team culture built around connection, encouragement passion and energy from the very beginning.