The Real ROAR: A Look at the Lives of the Jaguars’ Cheerleaders

By Sara Conrad
The Times Union

Just about everyone in town knows about the Jacksonville Jaguars’ ROAR Cheerleaders. But do you know who they are? Did you know that one of them might help find the cure for cancer or that one is on her way to serving our country in the military? Most people don’t know that in addition to practicing with the team several times a week and attending preseason and home Jaguars games to perform, that members of the ROAR also must either have a full-time job or be a full-time student or full-time parent.

TaJonda Meadows

TaJonda has been a ROAR Cheerleader for two years and was voted by her teammates as Cheerleader of the Game after the Jaguars vs. Titans game this year. She also might someday contribute to finding a vaccine for HIV or a cure for cancer.

TaJonda’s interest in medicine starts at home. Her stepfather has been battling cancer for five years. It is now in remission but has required several rounds of chemo and radiation. His illness was part of what inspired her to study fatal and infectious diseases. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in biology, she now attends the University of North Florida in pursuit of her second bachelor’s degree, this time in nursing.

“I hope to one day find a cure or vaccine for HIV. It’s such a preventable disease, and it’s so hard to see so many people touched by it. … It affects so many black females,” she says. “It’s such a political disease.”
She first had her sights set on becoming a doctor, but now she is pursuing nursing so she can spend more time with patients. “I want to do more than just sit in a lab looking through my microscope and want to see how the disease affects them,” she said.

But TaJonda is intrigued by other aspects of nursing and medicine. She would like to be involved in things like clinical trial research and evidence-based nursing practices to improve the care of patients. She has also considered joining a research team studying diseases, which means going for an advanced degree.

TaJonda was born in Georgia but considers herself from Panama City, where her mother raised her as a single parent. She said her mother is a big part of her success.

“My mother always told us if we wanted something out of life [to go for it]. … She expects the best out of us. She’s the biggest motivator in my life,” she says.

TaJonda is also interested in arts and crafts and keeps stress at bay by painting and getting manicures and pedicures.

“I’m interested in contributing to something that is bigger than me that affects so many people,” she said. “I just think of myself as a person going to school, but [kids] look up to me so much, and it’s unreal.”

Laurie Conley

Laurie has a personal connection to the U.S. military. Her grandparents, father and aunt all served in the military, and now the five-year Roar veteran wants her turn. Having already earned her undergraduate degree in health administration, she now is hoping to get accepted into the Navy’s health administration program.

“I want to give back to my country, and if [I’m doing] something I like to do … I might as well give back,” she said.

Laurie has always set high goals for herself, and so far has an excellent success rate. She started cheering at age 6 with a Pop Warner team her mom coached. When Laurie was in fifth grade, her teacher hung up an article with a football player and two Jaguars cheerleaders in the classroom. That night, Laurie told her mom that she wanted to be a Jaguars cheerleader. From that point on, her mission was to stay healthy and fit and continue to cheer and do community service.

At 17, Laurie founded ProjectGirlTalk, an organization that encourages preteen girls to talk about their goals.

“These girls’ faces light up every time I tell them [being a ROAR cheerleader] was my goal, and they get so excited,” she said.

Laurie was already a Pop Warner cheerleading coach at the time she started ProjectGirlTalk and was already preparing to be a member of a professional cheerleading team. Now, at 24, she has been a Roar cheerleader for five years. Last year, she was named Miss River City 2009.

“It started as a personal journey and I realized that where I came from and where I am now would [give me] the ability to talk to other girls,” she said.

Laurie not only loves the cheerleading; she also loves the opportunities to interact with the community.

“Kids think it’s not attainable for them to become a ROAR Cheerleader,” she said. But she wants to show them through her organization that anything is possible if you have goals.

“No one talks to [girls] about goal setting and that sometimes there will be setbacks,” she said. So Laurie travels to schools the state has rated as C, D or F and where the girls especially need role models to help them define their goals. Laurie also coaches Episcopal High School cheerleaders.

When Laurie isn’t coaching others, she is working as a sales manager or spending time with her fiance, a restaurant owner, who shares her passion for food. “I love food so much, so anyone who says cheerleaders don’t like food is wrong,” she said, laughing. One of her favorite things to do for lunch is share sushi with her mom, who she considers her best friend and guardian angel.

After Laurie earns her master’s degree, she will retire from the ROAR after this year’s season to pursue her military career. She said she will be excited to start her new military career, but will miss the friendship of her team members.

“What I like best about cheerleading is the friendships that you form. Once you become a member of the Roar, you just become like family,” she said.

You can find out more about ProjectGirlTalk at www.laurieconley.com.

Erin O’Neill

Erin is a rookie ROAR cheerleader and a graduate pharmacy student.

“I feel like people at school don’t know I’m a cheerleader, but the cheerleaders probably don’t know that I’m kind of a dork,” she said.

She’ll be attending the University of Florida for four more years to earn her doctorate in pharmacy studies, something she really enjoys.

She has always been interested in science, health and helping people. She thought about pursuing speech pathology and sports therapy before landing on pharmacy studies. She learned from her grandparents how confusing medications could be for a lot of people.

“I never realized how many medications some people take. I’ve lived in a kind of sheltered life, and my family has been healthy,” she said.

Growing up in Jacksonville, many of Erin’s dance teachers cheered for the ROAR. They became her role models. She first began taking dance in preschool and became serious about both dance and acrobatics in second grade. Jazz and tap dancing were her favorite. In fact, she still holds on to her tap shoes, even though she doesn’t dance tap anymore. In high school she veered away from tap and started concentrating on cheerleading. She was the cheerleading captain her senior year at Stanton College Preparatory School.

But from about the time she was in kindergarten she was also training to be a swimmer. When she was on her high school swim team, one of her coaches encouraged her to shoot for the Junior Olympics. But her mom asked her to give up one sport, so Erin chose to stay with dance and cheerleading. She would ride the school bus and wait for dance classes because her mom worked full time.

Erin loves the thrill of dancing as well as watching football — especially after the Jaguars came to Jacksonville.
“It’s hard for me not to get excited about it. … Sometimes I’m on the field, and I get so into the game,” she said. “A lot of us on the team love dancing, and it’s not a job for any of us I don’t think.”

Her favorite thing about performing is the adrenaline rush. “I feel like I dance 10 times harder and better when I have an audience,” she said.

When Erin isn’t studying, she is either playing with her new puppy, a golden retriever named Bella she got for her graduation, or spending time with her family.

[Jacksonville ROAR]