Lifeguard selected to Hawks dance team

by Wayne Crenshaw
78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Robins Air Force Base, GA
7/9/2010

Fans of the Atlanta Hawks will see a Team Robins member at games in the upcoming season.

Andrea “Andi” Phillips, a full-time lifeguard with Outdoor Recreation, was among over 200 women to try out recently for the A-Town Dancers, the Hawks dance team, and she made the squad.

The dancers perform before games and during timeouts at Philips Arena. Phillips, 21, was involved in cheerleading and dancing from the time she was in middle school but it was her first time trying out for the A-Town Dancers.

“I was so shocked,” she said of her reaction when she got the call that she had made the team. “It was killing me to find out. I was so excited.”

She is the daughter of Master Sgt. Kris McMahan, a training manager in the 116th Air Control Wing.

She lives in Warner Robins and will have to make the drive to Atlanta for practices, games and other public appearances. But the dancers rotate, so she won’t be at every game, and she gets paid both for her appearances and her travel expenses.

She was inspired to try out after her boyfriend took her to a Hawks playoff game against the Orlando Magic earlier this year. It was her first game. Her boyfriend suggested she try out for the squad, and when she got home she looked into it.

The tryout extended over three days, including two prep clinics, an interview with judges, and even a written test to find out what the girls knew about the Hawks team.

“I didn’t do so well on that,” she said.

She has a twin sister, Michelle, who had always danced with her.

“It was my first time doing it without her,” she said. “I was so nervous.”