Delco women flock to Lincoln Financial Field for shot to be Eagles cheerleaders

By LAURA WISELEY
Delco Times
Sunday, March 25, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — Nikki Battaglia goes to a few Eagles home games a year. She’d like to attend all of them — but from a much better seat.

“I was always that cheerleader who paid more attention to the game,” said the Glenolden resident, who used to cheer for Springfield High School. “So this is something that I’ve always wanted to do.”

What Battaglia wants to do is earn a spot on the Eagles’ cheer team — a group of 38 women selected to cheer at home games and participate in various charitable activities throughout the Delaware Valley. Saturday, along with about 500 other hopefuls, she participated in Round One of an audition process to fill out the team.

“This is my third time trying out, so I’m hoping that the third time is the charm,” she said. “This is the most confident I’ve ever been in myself. I’m learning that it’s OK to let loose and be myself and show them who I am.”

The audition process started just after 10 a.m. at Lincoln Financial Field. Barbara Zaun, the team’s director of cheerleading, said that about 275 women had pre-registered for the event by attending team-sponsored workshops leading up to the auditions; another several hundred were expected as walk-ins.

All told, they’ll compete for 38 spots on the cheer squad, although 30 of the team’s current cheerleaders are re-auditioning for their spots.

The benefits of making the team, Zaun said, are immeasurable.

“If they make the squad, of course, they’ll get the opportunity to cheer before 67,000 fans at every Eagles home game,” she said. “Only 26 NFL teams have a cheer squad, so when you do the math, only a few hundred women ever get the chance to put on an NFL cheer uniform. Plus, the Eagles team is considered among the elite in the NFL.”

The women who make the squad will spend a week in the Bahamas, shooting photos for the nationally-available Eagles cheer-team calendar.

“For them, it’s like living the life of a supermodel for a week,” Zaun said. “Then there’s the friendship, the camaraderie, the great exercise — so many great benefits.” Continued…

Cheer-team members also fan out throughout the community, doing promotional and charitable events. Last year, they cheered at the Senior Bowl in Alabama and at Super Bowl promotional events in Canada.

Those events, in fact, are one of the main reasons why Media’s Paige Bell is trying to make the team for the fifth straight year. A Strath Haven High School and West Chester University graduate, she spent her college years cheering on the Eagles, and would like to do it again this year.

“What makes being an Eagles cheerleader special is the work we do,” said Bell, 22. “When we go to Children’s Hospital and the kids see us, you feel like it makes their day a little better. Those times are what makes doing this so much more rewarding.”

Getting the chance isn’t easy, though. Hopefuls started the day learning a 15-second dance routine, which they performed later in front of a team of judges. They were also judged on beauty, fitness and personality over the course of the eight-hour first-round tryout process.

Clad in a white warm-up jacket adorned with a rhinestone Eagles logo, coach Suzy Zucker watched every move the women made during their dance routines.

“This is the only one here who made me want to watch,” she said, pointing to a dancer wearing a sparkly green top. “The rest of you look like you’re in the middle of dental work, or maybe a really hard math exam. It’s all about first impressions. The judges want to like you — they’re not here to see you fail.”

That wasn’t in the plans for 21-year-old Candace Clark of Brookhaven, a former Sun Valley High School cheerleader who was making her first try for the team.

“I’ve been wanting to try out since I was 18, and I never did,” she said. “But this year, I’ve worked really hard to make this team. I really want it. I think I’ve got this routine down.”

So, too, did Battaglia, who was hoping to make it to the next round of auditions and be one of the final names called when the process wraps up at the Kimmel Center on April 24.

“Eagles cheerleaders are ambassadors who love the city and what it stands for,” she said. “I feel pretty confident today — the most confident I’ve been since I started trying out. Everything feels good, and I think I’m ready for this.”