Morrisville student beats odds; becomes Patriots’ cheerleader
Athena Lazo, ’11
Staff Reporter
The Morrisville State Chimes
Push hard, work hard, be unbreakable. This is the motto I have recently found myself living by. For over five weeks, I endured a grueling audition process, fighting for a spot as a New England Patriots Cheerleader.
Dom Helder Camara once said, “When we are dreaming alone, it is only a dream; When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality.” On Feb. 20, I joined 266 other women with similar hopes in mind. After learning two dance routines, standing in lines for countless hours, and completely forgetting everything I learned once stepping into the judges’ room, I felt defeated. A feeling that I would feel incalculable times over the next 35 days.
Someone must have been on my side that night, because I was chosen to return for finals on March 6. Not once throughout the audition and interview process did I feel I was guaranteed a spot. To this day I still think back on the beautiful, talented women whom I auditioned with, and wonder why I was chosen over them. I never have understood the dance audition process fully; you never know what judges are looking for, but I am not arguing right now.
Two years ago, I showed up to preliminary auditions with a close friend hoping for a spot on the 2008-2009 team. After eight cuts, I was called into the coach’s office and told to work on certain aspects of my dancing and my look. She encouraged me to return the following year. I did not cry until I was locked tight in my car. Thoughts raced through my head of what I could have done differently, but I honestly had given it my all. Every audition, whether I have passed it or not, I have given 110 percent.
Instead of giving up, I decided to return this year to give it another shot. Each week, I committed to commute about 1200 miles for this process. It would be worth it to me if I was chosen. My mother was a Patriots Cheerleader over 20 years ago. I grew up only knowing the Patriots. Only supporting the Patriots, and loving the NFL. Some girls are turned onto the glam and the glitz that the job offers. Everyone thinks that NFL cheerleaders are simply good looks and charming personalities, but the bonds that I have begun to create are unbreakable, and I can honestly say, these 24 ladies know how to work hard. Every practice and every moment we are together is nothing but heart and soul. These women are intelligent and sincere, and alongside our coach, Tracy Sormanti, we have learned to positively enhance ourselves as people.
From the second I stepped up to the registration table, smiles from the veterans on the team encouraged me to do my best. Every single girl was there to pick up another throughout the process. No one was ever left hanging.
Every other audition I have been to, I have fended for myself. Other candidates do not want to help you; they do not want to see you succeed. If you are the best, you make the cuts, but not this audition. The veterans understand that they want the perfect teammates next to them on game days and during promotions, and they were there every step of the way.
It does not matter who tells you you cannot; prove them wrong. My mother did not want me to return for this year’s audition. She said she could not bare to see me crushed, as I had been previously. In my mind, anything worth it to me, should be worth the hard work and effort. I have been told no; I have been let down, but you know what, it made this process even that more enticing.
What got me through months of training and an almost 30 pound weight loss? What got me through 348 high kicks, 80 pushups, a P90X ab workout, and perfecting four dance routines at the first optional practice? I will tell you what got me through it, the thought that I wanted to be a part of a team, a family; the thought that I wanted to train and grow with the best; the thought that I knew I could do this. The thought that I wanted to represent the three time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots in their upcoming football season.
It is not about being the best dancer, having the biggest smile, or being the most approachable. It is not about the skinniest body, or being superficial. What we have and what we will go through is nothing short of the hardest journey, and I never imagined I would be in the position I am today. Did I dream of it for years, of course I did, but joining those ladies on the field in August will fulfill what I have desired since I was young. I am still waiting for my coach to take my uniforms back, and say she was just kidding. This whole thing seems unreal.
Some may think a silly dance audition could not possibly mean this much to someone. Yes, there are far more difficult situations out there. My big brother endured a brain stem tumor as a child, and had to fight past the age of nine; he survived. My aunt was just recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She is fighting for her life with each day; she will survive.
Any procedure you go through in life, you need someone to back you. Fortunately, I had my family: My grandmother, whom is my biggest fan. My mother, whose honesty kept me in check the entire time; and my grandfather’s faith.
I may have not been the best of the best, but I was what the team was looking for this year, and I am more than grateful to be honored with a spot on the team. The squad was opened up to 11 new members for the 2010-2011 year. I had a four percent chance of making the team when I walked through the doors of the Dana Farber Field house on Feb. 20, but this did not scare me.
I will be joining 24 elite ladies in the Dominican Republic at the end of the month to shoot our 2011 swimsuit calendar. Do I belong in this small group? I am not sure, but I am going to work to prove that those judges made the right decision, and I will never forget the almost impossible process I went through to get where I am today.
