Two Northfielders make the cut for Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders training program

Jordan Osterman
Northfield News
September 24, 2012

A common phrase to promote self-confidence is to say, “Dance like no one is watching you.” That’s easy enough when you’re dancing in front of say, a dozen, 100, or even 1,000 people.

But what about when you’re dancing in front of 50,000 screaming Minnesota Vikings fans on a game day at the Metrodome? That’s exactly what Northfield natives Ting Ting Yang and Michelle Polzin did Sunday as part of the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders training camp.

“It has been a blast,” Yang said. “We started in June, and it’s been amazing ever since.”

After trying out with between 130 and 150 other women at an open audition in April, both Yang and Polzin were selected, along with 36 other women, to be a part of the training program.

“It’s a select only group. We have a lot of women interested,” Beth Hauffman of the MVC training program said. “We’re very specific about the ladies we ask to join.”

Working out at least once a week in the program from June through March, both women are being prepared to reach the next level of official Minnesota Vikings cheerleader.

“This is another thing that gives us an opportunity, and helps us refine our skills and techniques to help our chances [of making the official team],” Yang said. “It allows us to strengthen our potential.”

That potential-strengthening is achieved through a rigorous program aimed at preparing participants for the high-level cardio, dance and cheering required of Vikings cheerleaders.

“They give us the hardest workouts you can possibly think of,” Yang said. “We have to push ourselves further and further to our limits.”

All that preparation will lead up to the open tryouts next April, where Yang and Polzin will have another chance to make the jump onto the official team. With all 130-150 people trying out “starting with a clean slate,” both will have an opportunity to use what they’ve learned.

“We try to get them what we call the whole package,” Haufmann said. “We work on dance technique, cheerleading, interviewing skills; we work on professionalism, etiquette, interviewing, poise, as well as the dancing and fitness aspect.”

Yang, a 2005 Northfield High School graduate, was told of the tryouts by her former trainer, Northfield’s Colleen Day – an ex-Vikings cheerleader herself – and recognized a familiar face in Polzin.

“It was wonderful to know I knew someone else going through this with me,” Yang said.

If either are to make the official team, they will take part in an extensive Vikings Cheerleaders schedule that includes hours of practice, makeup, performances and more than 400 public appearances.

Reach Sports Editor Jordan Osterman at 645-1111, or follow him on Twitter.com @NFNJordan.