by Vicky Robson, Evening Chronicle
Jul 4 2009

CHEERLEADERS brought the American dream all the way to youngsters on Tyneside.

And it was “hands on hips, smiles on lips” for the pupils at Wingrove Primary School, in Fenham, Newcastle, when the team of elite professionals dropped in to fly their flag.

The six-strong squad from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers American football team, in Florida, were in the city as part of a UK tour to promote the sport and rally fans.

They spent the morning playing games and showing some classic steps to dance pupils in Years 3 to 6, before showcasing their pom-pom power in two special routines.

The girls finished their visit with two performances and wowed the crowd of youngsters, all aged between seven and 11, with their traditional slogan shouting.

Buccaneer cheerleader, Anna Duncan, 23, said: “It’s been amazing. I love coming to the UK and it’s great to give the kids an opportunity to have some fun and teach them all about American football.

“We are here to promote the sport and the big game at Wembley in October and we are also the UK’s home team this year so it’s very exciting. It’s just wonderful to be here.”

The visit coincided with the school’s sports week where children had been taking part in a range of different activities, including cricket, cycling and street jam and Asian dancing.

Headteacher at Wingrove Primary School, on Hadrian Road, Denise Harland, said: “It’s a great opportunity to have the cheerleaders come into the school and show the children a different side of sport.

“These girls are very fit, articulate and fun, and it’s gives our children an idea of what sport can offer.

“They need to see and experience as broad a range of activities as possible and are very fortunate to have been part of the Buccaneers tour.”

The squad are touring the UK in a bid to drum up support and rally fans for the third National Football League game at Wembley Stadium, in London.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing as the UK’s home team against the New England Patriots, who are hosting the match in the new season which starts in September.

It will be the third regular season game played by the NFL in the country and has already sold more than 70,000 tickets.

NFL UK managing director, Alistair Kirkwood, said: “It’s great to see British kids enjoying any aspect of the American football experience. It all helps to develop an understanding and passion for the sport.”

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the New England Patriots game which takes place at Wembley Stadium, in London, on October 25.

For more information on the game, or cheerleading in the UK, visit www.NFLUK.com

Spreading Good Cheer Overseas
Buccaneers.com
[Photos]
Jun 25, 2009

“Oorah!”

That, as a dozen members of the 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders team are now well aware, is a traditional cry of greeting or enthusiasm by a U.S. Marine. Apparently, it can also mean, ‘Job well done!’

Meagan Pravden, whose father, grandfather and uncles have all served in the U.S. military, was recently treated to a rousing chorus of ‘Oorahs!’ at Camp Kinser in Okinawa, Japan, as were her fellow Buccaneer Cheerleaders. The cheerleaders, part of a traveling troupe participating in an Armed Forces Entertainment overseas tour, had just concluded a variety show performance for a large group of Marines, and there was little doubt it had gone well.

“They received our show very well,” gushed Pravden, one of only two rookie cheerleaders on the tour. “They say, ‘Oorah!’ and we absolutely love performing for them. The Marines are the best! Then again, we’re performing for sailors [Thursday] and that’s unexplored territory for me. I’ve never performed for sailors before. We’re excited to see how they receive the show, but all of our performances have gone over very well so far.”

Pravden and her fellow traveling cheerleaders — Tomoko Kojima, Tiffany Jimenez, Sahara Sears, Tramane Shuler, Jeni Summers, Courtney Russ, Holly Sellers, Sara Tetzler, Aubrey Gainey, Jaime Hanna and Cheerleading Manager Sandy Charboneau — have been out of the States since Thursday, June 18. They flew first to Japan then hopped to Guam on Tuesday. Tampa Bay players Michael Clayton and Will Allen also made the trip, though their itinerary has been slightly different.

The Buccaneers Cheerleaders put on two shows in Okinawa and filled almost every intervening hour with meet-and-greets and other appearances with members of the military. Clayton and Allen stayed in Okinawa one extra day in order to host a football clinic for service members at Camp Shields. For the cheerleaders, a third show at Anderson Air Base in Guam on Thursday will conclude the exhausting but highly rewarding trip; they will arrive back in Tampa on Friday night.

Charboneau and groups of Buccaneer Cheerleaders have participated in many such tours in the past, but each trip remains an eye-opening experience for the travelers, especially those taking part in it for the first time.

“What I’ve heard from most of the girls and how I feel myself is that it’s probably the best part of our jobs,” said Charboneau. “We get to meet people that we never, ever would have had the opportunity to meet. Seeing the impact it has on the people in the military when we just show up and tell them that we appreciate them, it means a lot. It really does.”

Pravden definitely agreed.

“It’s so much more than I expected,” she said. “I’d never traveled internationally before, and to meet all these troops, all the emotional rewards that we get back, it’s such an experience. I’m just so grateful to have this opportunity my first year on the team.”

Like Pravden, most of the cheerleaders on the tour have family members who have served or are currently serving in the military. A chance to say thank you to the men and women protecting our nation was a large part of their motivation to sign up for the trip. That seemed particularly poignant when the tour took the group relatively close to areas of current concern, such as Korea.

Knowing the danger these troops are willing to face, the cheerleaders wanted nothing more than to foster happier thoughts in the men and women they entertained and interacted with.

“Luckily, when we come and hang out with the troops we bring a sort of ‘lightness’ with us, just taking their minds off what they’re doing day to day,” said Sears, a four-year veteran of the squad who has taken part in previous overseas tours. “We’re trying to help them have some fun for a few hours. Emotionally it’s been just as touching as it always is. Each tour that we go on, we meet so many people and we hear so many stories that touch our lives in every single way, and this tour’s no different.

“It’s good for them to reflect and get their minds off being away from home. We meet tons of people from Florida and the Tampa Bay area, and even a lot of people who aren’t from the Tampa Bay area who are Bucs fans. That’s really cool to see, considering we’re thousands and thousands of miles away from home.”

Every tour is packed with appearances, travel and preparations. There’s a little time for sightseeing here and there, a little time for sleep. The schedule can be brutal on the face of it; the cheerleaders arrived in Guam at 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday, got to their hotel three hours later and were soon back on the meet-and-greet tour.

Still, the travelers uniformly agree that they don’t really feel the exhaustion until they get back to Tampa.

“The schedule is intense and it is hectic, but the thing is that we’re doing are once-in-a-lifetime things,” said Sears. “We’ve visited some troops while they’re practicing getting into their jets and we’ve visited other troops while they were working in the fire station. It’s stuff that you’ve really never had the chance to do before, so our energy level stays high because we’re running on excitement and adrenaline. The short hours of sleep are totally worth what we’re getting to experience every single day.”

Pravden says the adrenaline pumps double-time for the first-timers on the tour.

“I’ve never done this before so every experience is a new one,” she said. “Every meet-and-greet, you never know what you’re going to get, who you’re going to shake hands with, who you’re going to talk to and the experiences you’re going to hear. It’s just been non-stop and I’ve loved it.”

File this under “WICKED COOL”

So, a few days ago I heard about the Oakland Raiders partnering with AirAsia to help raise the Raiders’ profile in Asia, and grow the airline’s worldwide market. I admit, I didn’t pay attention to the details. Blah blah blah… sponsorship. Blah blah blah…airplane. Blah blah blah…unprecedented creative endeavor. Yadda yadda yadda.

And then I saw this:

Yes, that’s an airplane. And yes, those are Raiderettes on the side. Sweet!

There are a few players and the Raiders label on the other side, of course. There’s even an eye patch on the nose of the plane. All of this is reallyl nifty. And I think it really says something about the Raiders and their pride in the Raiderettes.

Stop for a moment and think: what if it was YOUR face up there? I guess you’d try to get a couple more hours of sleep the night before the uniform photo shoot if you thought your image could eventually wind up on the side of an A340 Airbus!

FYI, that’s Angel, April, and Mandy from last year’s team. Angel and Mandy are still on the team this year. I believe April is retired.

Click here to read about it on Raiders.com
Click here to view photos on Posterous.com

Campers put on impressive halftime performance
By Kevin Travis, Sports Editor
Washington Daily News
Sunday, June 28, 2009

PLYMOUTH — Boom goes the dynamite!

The cheerleaders at this year’s 2009 Charles Bowser NFL Youth Football/Cheerleading Camp certainly were explosive. Working in unison, the young cheerleaders put together a wonderful halftime routine during a flag football game that capped this weekend’s camp.

Miami Dolphins cheerleaders were on hand this weekend to interact with the girls.

Kim Leary, the camp’s cheerleading coach, was thrilled about the outcome.

“This has been a great experience,” Leary said. “The (Dolphins) cheerleaders have brought some excitement. They have taught them character-building, a healthy way to eat, the lifestyle of being a cheerleader, being smart and getting good grades, having fun and being disciplined.”

Amy M. and Kellie C., a pair of Miami Dolphins cheerleaders, were on hand to lend their support.

“This has been amazing,” said Kellie, a rookie on the Miami cheerleading squad. “The kids are so great. They’re eager to learn.

“They’re just full of life. We’re excited to be here and they’re excited to have us. It’s heart-warming to see them be excited to see us.”

Amy, a second-year cheerleader with the Dolphins, was glad she had the chance to mingle with and teach the campers.

“This means a lot for us to come out here,” Amy said. “Just to meet all these kids and to see how they’re doing in life is great.”

The campers were happy they had a chance to spend some time around professional cheerleaders.

“It’s nice because we don’t get opportunities like this all the time,” said Alexis Owens, 14. “It’s a good experience.”

Tiffany Palin, 13, enjoyed learning new routines from the Dolphins cheerleaders.

“It’s been good having them here,” Palin said. “They taught us some things we didn’t know.”

The campers returned the favor to the Dolphins cheerleaders.

“They taught us three dances and we’re hoping that we can bring them back to Miami and teach them to our girls,” Kellie said. “Learning the dances was the highlight, definitely.”

Campers were from Creswell High School, Creswell Elementary, Pines Elementary and Washington County Union. Participants ranged from first grade to tenth grade.

“It’s an exciting time to have all the schools come together and have a wonderful time,” said Leary, who thanked coaches Shirley Henson and LaTasha McNair for their help. “It’s all about learning to work together, and learning how to make friends.

“We’ve had a great time. I’m glad the girls had a chance to have this opportunity.”

There were certainly plenty of reasons to cheer.

Bios and uniform shots are now online for the 2009-10 Cardinals Cheerleaders. Click here to learn about this year’s squad!

Training Camp Prepares Titans Cheerleaders for Upcoming Season

By Sarah Goodyear
Titans Online
Jun 18, 2009

The Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders began their third week of training camp on Monday with their annual uniform photo shoot. Training Camp for Titans Cheerleaders is a four week endeavor that occurs every June upon returning from their yearly swimsuit calendar photo shoot in Destin, Florida at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. During the four week camp, the Cheerleaders improve their fitness and strength, as well as practice and learn new dance routines.

TTC training camp also includes a series of educational events. The ladies received a football tutorial from Titans Video Director Anthony Pastrana, a lesson about proper etiquette and manners, and a golf lesson from former Titans Cheerleader (and 2009 Pro Bowl Representative) Lindsay S. in order to prepare the team for the Titans Foundation Golf Tournament on Monday, June 22nd. Media training will be provided by John Dwyer of News 2 and Voice of the Titans, Mike Keith during the final week of camp.

In addition to the regular practices that occur three nights a week and on Saturday mornings, the Titans Cheerleaders also attend mandatory “Fitness Fridays” lead by Coach Stacie Kinder and her husband and former Olympic Decathlete, Gary Kinder. Fitness Fridays consist of intense cardiovascular and strength building exercises to prepare the Cheerleaders for the upcoming season.

“We don’t just ‘work out,’” explains Keesha, rookie Titans Cheerleader. “Gary teaches us techniques and drills that improve our endurance and help us meet our fitness goals. It also helps to be surrounded by teammates with the same ambitions; they motivate me to do better.”

“Fitness Friday shows us how hard we can actually push ourselves,” says Julia, commenting on participating in her fourth training camp with the Titans Cheerleaders. “It sets the standard for how we should workout and train all year.”

On the final Friday in June, each member of the team is required to pass a fitness test and is rewarded with a commemorative t-shirt upon completion. In addition to the fitness test, the squad is responsible for passing a written test that covers the material that they learned during the various educational seminars.

Training camp encourages members of the team to improve their physical fitness and their knowledge of football. It also provides a way for the Cheerleaders to create new friendships and strengthen their bond as a team.

“It is amazing how supportive and motivating all the women are,” says Ally, who is beginning her second season with the Titans Cheerleaders. “This experience allows us to really get to know one another and grow more as a team.”

By Ariana

* Photo Gallery and Video Highlights*

Last week, myself and some of the other cheerleaders were invited to take part in some promotional video clips.

On the first day, Jennifer, Pamela, Ashton and I took a variety of different clips where we danced, kicked, jumped and did lots of hair flips! The video camera was filming in slow motion so it was very interesting to see our every motion in detail. We also were able to do some solo video clips. For example, I was jumping on a mini trampoline while some of the other girls were dancing in the background. It came out fabulous!

On the second day of shooting, we had a group of 12 cheerleaders filming clips together. In groups, we danced and did some fun shots with Dolphins fans! Playing off our new stadium name, Land Shark Stadium, the Dolphins fans and the cheerleaders practiced our “FINS UP” that we’ll be performing at the games. When we had extra time, the film crew set up a special Plexiglas stage with lights underneath, strobe lights and fog machines. It was a very artistic and creative look that will really give our fans something new to see!

Overall we all had a great time filming both days and we can’t wait to see the final outcome!

- Ariana

By Gayle Guyardo
Tampa Bay Online
June 17, 2009

Cheerleader Practice Photos and Video

TAMPA – Twelve Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders will take off for Japan on Thursday to perform for troops stationed there.

On Friday, they’ll be joined by Bucs players Will Allen and Michael Clayton.

“My father was in Vietnam and I called him to tell him that I made the trip,” said rookie cheerleader Meagan Pravedm. She wanted “to pay it forward to the troops doing the same thing he did.”

The “Shake, Rattle and Roll” variety tour organized by Armed Forces Entertainment includes a first stop at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, where the cheerleaders will perform Friday with the band The Crash Moderns. The players arrive shortly after and will join the cheerleaders in greeting military personnel. The Tampa representatives will also visit Camp Foster in Okinawa.

The cheerleaders then go to Guam on Monday for a visit with troops at Andersen Air Base. Clayton and Allen will remain in Japan for a football clinic and return to Tampa on June 24.

At the annual Bucs cheerleader tryouts, the women also auditioned for the special military appreciation tour. The squad includes about three dozen members, only a third of whom were chosen for the tour.

During their performance, the women willl dance, tap and fling batons in the air to the sounds of hip-hop, rock ‘n’ roll, country and ,of course, military favorites.

In past years, specialized Bucs cheerleaders teams have traveled to Australia, Iraq, Afghanistan and London.