Lindsay Shoemaker and the Sacramento Mountain Lions Dance Team Auditions
by Ahsan Awan
Sacramento Press
The UFL’s Sacramento Mountain Lions cheer and dance team is set to hold tryouts June 5.
The team’s director, Lindsay Shoemaker, was hired in late April, and has been busy preparing ever since. With preliminary tryouts only a week away, there is still a lot of work to be done. For example, the team needs a name. Cougarettes, Lady Lions, Capital Kittens? “We’ve narrowed it down to a few names, but nothing is for sure yet,” said Shoemaker.
But coming up with a name isn’t the first priority. About 200 women are registered to try out for 32 spots, and Lindsay said she and her assistants have to come up with a routine for the women to learn and perform in one day.
The women on the team will be announced June 12, but first comes a week of interviews and performances in front of judges and fans. “It’s important that the community be involved in the process,” Shoemaker said.
Indeed, the life of a Mountain Lion cheer and dance team member calls for broad community appeal. In addition to two practices per week, and one team workout and physical training session per week, there will be many public appearances. Shoemaker said the team could make appearances every week. “Any time our girls are out in public, they represent the league and the organization,” she said.
According to the Sacramento Business Journal, members of the squad will be paid for the four home games and promotions that they attend. Shoemaker confirmed this, but added that there will be work on behalf of charities, and appearances at schools and other community events.
According to information provided by the UFL, Shoemaker is trained in jazz, ballet, hip- hop and funk. She was a member of the Universal Rhythm Dance Co. and Sheldon High School’s cheer and song team. She also danced for Chico Dance Theater at California State University, Chico, and Sacramento’s Empire Dance Team.
Lindsay Shoemaker. Photo Courtesy of Tanya Atkinson.
Shoemaker worked for Radio Disney as an on-air personality. She also developed a dance group made up of Radio Disney listeners that performed at events including the California State Fair and a number of festivals, and she coached the Sheldon Huskies Junior Cheerleaders.
Shoemaker was the lead dancer and scheduled all appearances as a charter member of The Lipstick Girls and Groovement. She also managed and taught at Get Dancing Academy of Dance in Fair Oaks. Her dancers performed at Paramount’s Great America and the California State Fair.
The Sacramento native has a degree in public relations and communication studies from California State University, Sacramento and currently works for the State of California’s Department of Public Health. She also competes in triathlons and half marathons, and is a football fanatic.
She’s a busy woman with a big task in front of her, and yet the question remains: What will the team be called and who will decide? Shoemaker said, “We’ve thought about asking the community to decide, much like they did with the naming of the football team.”
There’s no official suggestion box, but suggestions are welcome (below).
The Sacramento Mountain Lions cheer and dance team preliminary tryouts will be held at 24-Hour Fitness at 1314 Fulton Ave. (corner of Fulton and Hurley) on June 5 from 12:30-8:30 p.m. on June 5. Registration forms available on the Mountain Lions website. The finals will be held at Cosmopolitan Complex, 1000 K St., June 12 at 4:30 p.m. Lindsay Shoemaker can be reached directly by email at mountainlionscheer@gmail.com.
