CSULB students take the court as Laker Girls

By Vinny Earley
Contributing Writer
Daily 49er

Cal State Long Beach senior Lindsay Riley balances school with long practices and tireless dance routines every week so that she may appear on the Lakers’ court come game time.

“You really have to learn to manage your time,” Riley said.

Riley, a health science major, is on the Laker Girls squad this season along with three CSULB graduates.

As a young girl, at a friend’s cabin in Big Bear, Riley said she was drawn to the old Laker Girls posters and other Lakers memorabilia.

Jennifer Albeanu, a CSULB journalism graduate, joined the Laker Girls this year. She said she was more excited than nervous during the rehearsal before her first game.

“There aren’t any people in the seats,” Albeanu said. “It’s just you and your Laker Girl uniform.”

Albeanu, who also works full-time at an equestrian center, said the CSULB girls are like her sisters.

For CSULB communications and journalism graduate Heather Hischar, being a Laker Girl has been a dream of hers ever since she could remember.

“I grew up in a Laker household, but I wasn’t a basketball fan,” Hischar said. “So I just watched the Laker Girls.”

Laker Girls tryouts usually consist of 500 to 600 applicants who are periodically cut throughout the day, leaving roughly 40 to 50 finalists. The finalists must then wait for a callback.

Hischar is in her third season as a Laker Girl, but she said the process is just as nerve-wracking as ever.

Hischar works as a dance instructor. She is applying to graduate schools for the fall to further her communications education.

“I would enjoy a media relations or public relations position for a charitable organization,” Hischar said.

Due to lengthy negotiations between players and owners during the off-season, the NBA started late this year, which means the season will be shortened.

For Kelsey Saunders, a CSULB dance graduate and first-season Laker Girl, the shortened season is all she knows.

“We were busy right from the start,” Saunders said. “I’m used to being really busy, so it feels normal.”

However, the NBA lockout caused teams to pack a lot of games into a short period of time.

Hischar said the Laker Girls aren’t worried about the hectic schedule.

“We’re all just really excited because we get to have a season,” Hischar said.