Simply Amazing – The 2011 Arizona Cardinals Cheerleader Auditions

Phoenix in April is an amazing place to behold…particularly if you are covering the 2011 Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders auditions.  And I was very fortunate to be able to do so.

UOP stadium, the site of the auditions, is an awe inspiring place to watch a football game and it is a pretty amazing place to hold cheerleader auditions.  Near 200 girls showed up on Saturday afternoon to audition for what would turn out to be 27 positions on the 2011 squad.  This year, tryouts would be held over several days and involved several phases, including an interview portion and physical agility portion.

In many years, the number of veterans returning essentially limits the potential of newcomers to a mere few.  But this year, only 18-21 veterans were trying out again, so there was a real opportunity for newcomers to break into the line up and make the squad.  And for a second year in a row, the list of potential candidates seemed to be devoid of those few girls who really don’t have a chance.  Everyone in attendance was a gamer.  So for this audition, the competition for the precious few positions would be competitive and as we all know competition breeds excellence.  And this was the case.

At 4:00 pm, the gates to UOP stadium were opened and the girls made their way to the registration table.  A couple of Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders were on hand to greet the candidates as they arrived.

I am told that there were more than 70 girls that had pre-registered, so the staff were expecting a good turnout.

The first phase of the auditions wouldn’t start until 5:00 pm, but many girls arrived early and began to prepare by stretching and warming up.

It was somewhat ironic that on the playing field below, a high school cheerleading competition was being held at the same time as our auditions.  I wonder if those girls down below knew what was going on three levels above.  Perhaps one day they will make their way up to the upper deck and audition for the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders themselves.

At 5:00 pm, the official proceedings began.  Heather Karberg, Director of Cardinals Cheerleading, welcomed the crowd and let each candidate know what was in store for them on this night.  There would be two rounds followed by cuts, the first an across the floor routine and the second a more performance oriented segment.  Those who remained would be taught the audition routine that would be performed in front of a panel of judges on Sunday.

But the first order of the day was warm ups.  Heather introduced Hailee, Laura and Taryn, who would serve as the instructors for the auditions.  The three promptly led the group of cheerleader hopefuls through a round of stretching and warm up exercises.

After a few minutes, the instructors demonstrated the across the floor routine, which included a series of high kicks, a change of direction, a jazz walk section, a spin and a leap.

The girls were allowed to rehearse this routine several times, with and without music.  If any candidate had a question, one of the three instructors would answer or demonstrate the movement.  This was important because for this round of auditions, it would be a rather quick affair.

Candidates would perform the routine twice and then be given a ticket to the next round or they would be excused from the remainder of the auditions.  Even as a novice to dance, I could tell that this routine was designed to separate those who had some skill and grace from those who, perhaps, needed a little more technique and polish.   And I suppose a cursory look at whether the girl had the requisite looks and fitness was also considered.   It was a brief process, but one I think designed to eliminate those clearly unqualified to proceed with the audition.

A little after 5:30 pm, the girls were lined up in groups of four and asked to perform the routine across the length of the third floor concourse.  At the end of the dance area, Heather and her assistants waited and handed out tickets to those proceeding to the next phase.

Now it appeared to me that those girls who remained were the ones that were very serious about auditions.  They were the ones that wore the “professional” dance attire, had the glamorous make up, and were the most physically fit.  I think those who remained were “in it to win it”, the serious contenders…or at least those seriously trying out.  And those girls, the ones with the “golden ticket” were assigned an audition number.

At the conclusion of this round, Heather gave the girls a few minutes to rehydrate and to relax a bit.  Some girls used this time to freshen up their make up.

It was 6:00 pm and things were proceeding on to the next phase, round two.  Heather once again addressed the remaining candidates and let them know that this round would focus on their performance.   The girls would be taught a routine that included two 8-counts of freestyle followed by a four 8-count choreographed portion.

This would be an exercise in staying in line and performing.  Heather’s assistants would be reviewing the proceedings and taking notes on each candidate as they learned the routine.  They would be evaluated on technique, weight, look, and smile.  This was something that I had not seen last year.  Clearly, the girls were being scrutinized more closely than in past auditions.

At 6:30 pm, the candidates were lined up and called up in groups of five to perform the routine on the stage.  They were aligned in two off set lines and expected to maintain that formation as a group.  This was the exercise…dancing while staying in formation.

By 7:00 pm, the entire group of candidates had performed.  Heather and her staff retired to deliberate and determine who would be moving onto the next round.  It would be nearly 20 minutes before the results were tabulated.

During this time, the veterans began tricking into the facility. They reacquainted themselves with each other and began to warm up and stretch.  Soon it would be time for them to learn Sunday’s audition routine, but first things first.  Another round of cuts was to be announced.

Heather returned from deliberations and gathered the girls together.  Before announcing the results, she encouraged those who would be ending their journey to contact her for feedback and to tryout again next year.  She, as she does every year, told her own personal story about when she tried out twice before making the Charger Girls.  Heather told them that the final year, she called the director and asked her why she had failed to make the squad and what she needed to do to make it next year.  She took the feedback to heart and the following year she made the Charger Girls.  It is a true story and one that shows that if you want it that badly enough, you’ll find out what you need to do to attain your goals and not be discouraged when you have a set back or two.

Now, since I have been covering the Cardinals Cheerleader auditions, I have always included a photo of Heather back in the day, as a Charger Girl…to bear witness to what she said that persistence pays off.  And here it is again, my photo of Heather when she was a Charger Girl.

And with that, Heather announced the names of the girls who were proceeding on to the next round of auditions.

Those, whose names were not called, collected their things and made off into the Arizona night.  Their time was over, at least for this year.  Now was the time for the veterans to join the fray.  They were assigned audition numbers and joined the ranks of the remaining candidates.

It was now 7:45 pm and time to introduce Sunday’s audition routine.  At every audition, it is tradition for Heather to lead her candidates by demonstrating the audition routine.

I think you can see why Heather was a Charger Girl.  Even today, you can see in her performance what an NFL cheerleader is all about…sharp, precise, powerful movements…big smile…and letting your personality shine through.  If you needed an example of what it takes to make it to the next level, emulate what your director is doing.

Heather and her three instructors then proceeded to lead the girls through the routine, introducing each piece in 8 count segments.

Now it was time for the girls to perform the routine, over and over again.

This continued until 9:00 pm.  In truth, it was not a long time to practice and I am certain that many of the girls would continue to rehearse well into the evening.  But before the girls made their way into the night, Heather called them together and handed out the audition schedule.  She discussed what would happen over the course of the next couple of days and she went over the scoring criteria: 25% for the Sunday dance audition; 25% for interviews; 25% for agility testing; and 25% for observations based upon performance throughout the audition process.

Tomorrow, the dance audition would begin at 8:30 am so the girls had less than 12 hours before the next phase of the auditions.  Several of the girls took the opportunity to record the instructors performing the audition routine.  Who would have thought a cell phone would be a key to making an NFL cheerleading squad?

Of the instructors, Laura and Hailee were not returning this year and I am told that Taryn, as the 2010 Cardinals Pro Bowl representative is automatically given a spot on the 2011 squad.  The Pro Bowl representative is expected to return…quite an honor.

So, day one of the auditions had ended after four hours of near continuous dance.  With two rounds of cuts, the number of girls who started the day were whittled down to roughly 70 candidates.

Tomorrow, the process would continue.  But for tonight, the girls and one tired photographer retired into the darkness to wait for what the morrow brings.

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Sunday, April 3.  8:30 am.  Though the actual audition process wasn’t scheduled to begin until after 9:00 am, most of the girls were already at UOP stadium warming up or rehearsing.

I wondered how many of the girls went home last night and rehearsed the routine.  I imagine quite a few because with the remaining candidates and the returning veterans, the competition would be fierce.

Things quickly got started again, with Lauran, Hailee, and Taryn leading the candidates through the warm up session.

Today’s routine included a kick line portion, so the girls were grouped into threes and they rehearsed the material together.

If I am not mistaken, some of the veteran’s numbers were changed to allow each group of three to have at least one veteran in the group.  I think was designed to see how the potential candidates performed next to an experienced veteran, to see if they would mesh.

Shortly after 9:00 am, Heather once again addressed the candidates to let them know what was in store for them and what to expect.  She then took the stage and as motivation for the girls, performed the audition routine flawlessly.  Heather can still rock it with the best of them, once again showing what an NFL cheerleader should be.

And with that, the Sunday auditions began.  The candidates were lined up in numerical order and instructed not to rehearse while the other girls were performing in front of the judges.  Then the first group was called to the stage…and then the next.

The routine was designed to use the entire stage…fore, aft, stage left and right.  The girls turned it on for the judges because for them, this was it.  One minute to win it, so to speak.  After the endless hours of practice, rehearsal and more practice, the girls literally had about a minute and a half to make a lasting impression on the judges.  Not a long time, but for some an eternity because as some girls nailed it, others had some lapses.

But for the most part, the girls were “on”.

There was one mishap, though.  One of the candidates injured her nose quite badly.  The two other girls in her group continued their routine, absent the one girl during the kick line portion.  But they soldiered on and the injured girl recovered with the assistance from the medical staff.  When she was ready, she was allowed to re-audition.  Heather called up her group and they performed the routine a second time for the judges.

At 10:50 am, Heather and the judges retired to the conference area to tabulate the scores.  This would be a long process, so the girls returned to the seating area and tried to wind down, if one can actually do so with so much as stake.

Forty minutes later, Heather returned and gathered the girls together one more time.  The results were in and in the end, thirty two numbers would be called.

Two veterans received bad news, one took it particularly hard.  They would not be continuing on with the auditions.  Their journey was over.

Once again, those girls whose numbers were not called, gathered their belongings and exited the building.  But before they did, Heather encouraged them to try out again next year and to contact her for specific feedback on their performance.  I appreciate that Heather offered some measure of encouragement to those who missed the cut this year.  In all truthfulness, I recognized three girls who were cut from last year’s auditions who would ultimately make the 2011 squad.  So, this was not simply letting these girls down easy.  It takes courage to try again after a failure, but in doing so, sometimes it leads to a success…it did in the case of those three girls, who will be donning the ACC uniform come the fall.

Heather addressed the remaining 32 candidates and discussed the next step in the process…interviews.  Yes, the candidates survived another round of cuts, but their day was not over.  Beginning in forty five minutes, the first group of girls would be shepherded in front of another panel to be interviewed.  Some of the girls were released for an hour or two, until their interview time.  But for the first group, they had a brief respite to grab a bit to eat and change into their interview attire.

Their day was just beginning, but for me my day was done.  My time in Arizona was finished and I would spend the great part of the next six days post processing my photos and writing this article.

Of the nearly 200 girls that tried out, over seventy girls would survive through the first day.  From those seventy, thirty two would make it through Sunday.  And from those 32 candidates, twenty seven would make the squad.

Those twenty seven girls that made it…they were simply amazing.

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I would like to express my gratitude to Arizona Cardinals Cheerleader Director Heather Karberg and the Arizona Cardinals organization for allowing me the privilege of covering their 2011 auditions.  I had a wonderful time.

And a special thanks to Laura, Hailee and Taryn for their hospitality.  Good luck in your future endeavors.

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