By Ted Dunnam
The Friendswood Journal
07.07.10
Now that she recently passed the milestone age of 21, the self-admitted time for early retirement is quickly approaching for Los Angeles Laker cheerleader Dara.
The Friendswood native has already conquered several worlds while others await.
That’s why Dara, a one-time Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and current Laker Girl, is closely monitoring her fast-track, spirit-boosting career.
Since graduating from Friendswood High School three years ago, Dara has danced for the premier cheerleading troupe in the NFL and just completed her rookie season for the gold standard in NBA cheerleading, the Laker Girls.
As if the world wasn’t coming at her faster and more furious than ever, Kobe Bryant and Co., captured the NBA title last month, adding another diamond to Dara’s jewel-encrusted resume.
In the land of jet-setters, party-goers and deal-brokers, the vanity-obsessed can easily be gobbled up.
But hailing from Smalltown, Texas, Dara’s level-headedness isn’t about to let her be engulfed by sometimes shallow, fleeting dreams.
“Right now, my plan is to re-audition on July 17,” Dara said. “Cheerleading is fun while it lasts, but it’s soon going to be time to move on to a real career.”
That’s where higher education enters the picture.
“I’m attending school at Santa Monica College, and transferring from Texas set me back a little bit,” Dara said. “Not all of my courses transferred, so I had to retake some of them.
“That’s OK, though. In the next year-and-a-half, I should be done.”
Dara is one of 21 Laker Girls, 18 of whom perform at each home game. However, once the playoffs start, all 21 members are required to display their talents at the Staples Center.
“This was much more draining than cheerleading for football,” Dara said. “The regular season in basketball is 40-something games and then you add all the playoff games and it’s up to about 50.
“That doesn’t include all the appearances and charity events that we work, also.”
Dara says the biggest misconception about professional cheerleading is that when the season ends for the players it also ends for the cheerleaders.
“To be honest, it’s gotten busier since that last game,” she said. “We’re all required to sign up for three charities a month, but we work a lot more than that.”
Lisa Estrada, Director of Game Operations and Entertainment for the Lakers the past 20 years, keeps the Laker Girls on their toes.
“Lisa is great – she’s extremely professional,” Dara said. “She has our best interests at heart.
“We represent the Lakers as an organization. You better make sure you maintain your proper weight, hair and makeup. I mean, you sign a contract saying you’re going to do all this so you better do it.”
Dara has also been fortunate be a part of both the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and Laker Girls calendars.
“With the Cowboys cheerleaders, there were 36 of us so you were really lucky to be chosen for that one,” Dara said. “My chances of getting selected for the Laker Girls calendar were a little better with 21 of us.
“I was excited about it. Lisa’s main focus is the Laker Youth Foundation, and that’s what all the proceeds of the calendar went to.
“Lisa likes to make everybody on the squad feel equal. We’re all on the same pedestal, and that takes away from unnecessary drama. I thought the calendar was very tastefully done, too. It portrayed us more like the girl next door. It was very classy.”
Dara says she hopes to be part of a Laker three-peat next year, but says it will be difficult to upstage games 6 and 7 of the NBA championship series against the Boston Celtics.
“I think game 6 was more intense than game 7 simply because we didn’t even know if there would be a game 7,” she said. “Then when it happened, game 7 was surreal.
“I mean, you couldn’t have asked for anything more. Game 7, Lakers-Celtics, the biggest rivalry in the NBA. Streamers, confetti…it was something you see in the movies. I’m speechless every time I talk about it.”
And then there was the parade.
“Other than the championship, that was the highlight of my season,” Dara said. “I’ve never seen that many people in my life. You don’t even know how to describe it.
“The cheerleaders kind of started the parade. We were on a big firetruck. It was sort of like the Fourth of July parade in Friendswood…except a LOT bigger.”
Dara, whose major is communications, would like to work in public relations once she finishes college.
“I’ll see where it takes me – I’m not sure exactly what I want to do with it,” she said. “I think entertainment reporting would suit me. I meet more and more people every day, and you meet all kinds of people all the time.
“I have my list of top 10 people I’d like to meet, and Stevie Wonder is No.4 and Denzel Washington is No. 3 on that list. I didn’t get to meet them, but I saw them at Laker games, and that was enough for me. That was cool.”
However, if she lands her desired gig, the up-close and personal interview with her favorite celebs may not be far away.
“Cheerleading is a part-time job, but it feels like a full-time job,” Dara said. “If I make the team next year, it will probably be my last year. I like living in California, but Texas may ultimately be my home.
“I never know what to expect, but I always pray that every day is going to be a great day. So far, it has.”
