Redskins Cheerleaders: Beyond the Poms
By Skylar Korby
Northern Virginia Magazine
Dubbed by CNBC.com as one of the Top 10 Best Cheerleading Squads in the NFL for 2013, the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders have a commitment to performance excellence that brings excitement to thousands of fans on and off the field. Aside from cheering on the team during the season, the First Ladies of Football are also known for showing support for our troops and honoring our veterans through various charity appearances and overseas tours.
Practices, appearances, games, worldwide travel–these ladies are busy! They couldn’t possibly have time to be behavioral neuroscientists, psychotherapists, Johns Hopkins University graduates or investment bankers, too, could they? Oh yes they could.
Auditions for the 2013-2014 season were a few weeks ago, and for the 38 new and returning members of the team, being a cheerleader is more like a fun, stress-relieving hobby that they participate in a few times a week. Many do it for the love of dance and a desire to find an outlet for their passion that they don’t necessarily find behind a desk.
Truly Gil, a second-year veteran of the team and a marketing specialist at Northern Virginia Magazine, moved to the area last year and wanted to get involved in the community. After spending three years as a cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins, she knew she would find the camaraderie she was looking for with the Redskins cheerleaders. She was even more gratified by the chance to do a six-country tour to support our troops.
“It’s an honor to get to support the brave men and women who work so hard to protect our freedoms. Because of them, I get to do what I love on a daily basis, which is cheerleading,” Gil says.
Third-year veteran Maigan Torre is constantly inspired by the sisterhood of the group. Knowing that they’re all there for their passion for dance and the love of the Redskins make the long after-work practices something to look forward to instead of a chore.
“I’m a dance teacher in Ashburn,” Torre says, “and when I see the leadership exhibited by our ladies during practice, I use that to find other ways for me to lead in my classroom. I learn from the team and try to broaden what I can bring to my students.”
Susan Hammond agrees. As a third-year veteran and captain of the new team, she enjoys her job at a management consulting firm, but says, “My day becomes happy when I get to practice.” Starting her day at 8 a.m. and not being done until 11 p.m. can be a little much at times, but she can’t imagine her life any other way. She gets just as excited about being on the field and hyping up the crowd as the crowd does watching her cheer!
Football season will be here before we know it, so when you see these ladies on the sidelines, be sure to hail to those who do double duty as PhD candidates, social workers and nutritionists. And they can do the splits too? You go, girls.
