Vikings Cheerleader Christina Gekas Taylor

Sharing team spirit across cultures
By Natalie Conrad
MN Sun
April 1, 2014

When Christina Gekas Taylor isn’t guiding her students on to post-secondary options as a school counselor, she is busy supporting the Minnesota Vikings as one of the team’s cheerleaders.

The Park Center High School counselor and 2003 Eden Prairie High School graduate is being recognized by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation with its first Outstanding Cheerleader Award.

While a student in Eden Prairie, Gekas Taylor was a member of the pom squad for all four years and recently served as a judge for this year’s auditions. She began dancing at a local dance studio at age 3, and credits her strong dance background to her experiences as a young dancer and on the pom squad. A very supportive family didn’t hurt either.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without the love and support of my mom,” Gekas Taylor said. “My mom always really encouraged me to follow my dreams and instilled a lot of love and confidence in me. She raised me to feel as though I have a lot to offer this world and a lot to give, so I shouldn’t hold back. Whenever I have experienced self-doubt or insecurity, she has always been my personal cheerleader.”

She attended college at the University of Kansas, where she continued to dance competitively for the school’s dance team and studied journalism. The team provided Gekas Taylor with a combination of cheer and dance.

“It was a nice balance of school spirit and competition,” Gekas Taylor said. “ We got to cheer on the basketball team through March Madness and do competitions.”

After college, she traveled to India and South Africa, and was a cheerleader for cricket teams. Gekas Taylor was a member of one of the first cheer teams to support the popular international sport.

“It was an interesting experience to cheer for a sport that doesn’t usually have cheerleaders,” Gekas Taylor said.
Gekas Taylor holds a wild tiger during an adventure in South Africa. She cheered for cricket teams in South Africa and India.

Gekas Taylor holds a wild tiger during an adventure in South Africa. She cheered for cricket teams in South Africa and India.

She was one of the few cheerleaders selected from all over the country to cheer on the sport and served as captain her second year on the team. Despite the fact that the cheer- and dance-based sport may have been foreign to the people of India and South Africa, they really enjoyed it, according to Gekas Taylor.

“They really embraced it and got excited about it,” she said. “They were really the best crowds to cheer for, because they weren’t used to it. They appreciated it even more than people do here.”

Gekas Taylor, along with her teammates, also got to be part of some of the music videos cricket teams film to kickoff each season.

After returning from her adventures abroad, Gekas Taylor decided to continue her education by getting a master’s degree in counseling, but continued to pursue her love of dance, taking classes at night.

Her unique experiences, from the Eden Prairie Pom Squad to cheering at the University of Kansas and cheering on cricket teams abroad, helped her earn a spot on the Vikings cheer team as a rookie in the 2013 season. Since then, she has been able to perform for hundreds of thousands of Vikings fans, and traveled with the team to represent the NFL in London this past fall.

Growing up in Eden Prairie, alongside the Vikings training facility, becoming a cheerleader for the team had always been a dream for Gekas Taylor.

“There are so many really talented girls that go through the program and it is really intense, but it’s something a lot of dancers strive for,” she said.

“You just need to be focused to do your best at both things,” she said.

As for her students knowledge of her side job as a professional cheerleader, Gekas Taylor said she tried to keep it quiet, but some of them found out anyway.

“It made for fun conversation,” she said. “ I can talk to them about the game and am able to relate to them in a different way.”
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While Gekas Taylor does not plan to audition for the upcoming season due to family illness, she plans to continue her love of the sport for years to come. She said she may pick up where she left off with the Park Center dance team and doesn’t rule out a possible return to the Vikings cheerleaders.

“I’ll never say never,” Gekas Taylor said. “We’ll see what happens.”

She will remain a member of the Vikings team until a new team is selected at the end of April. In the meantime, Gekas Taylor is busy promoting the upcoming Hoops for Hope event at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 27, at Park Center High School, 7300 Brooklyn Blvd. in Brooklyn Park. Teachers will face off against students in a basketball game to benefit the American Heart Association. The students will be cheered on by Park Center’s own cheerleading team, while the Vikings cheerleaders will cheer for the teachers.

As far as winning the outstanding cheerleader award, Gekas Taylor said she is “shell-shocked” and honored, but is even more proud to know that this new award will continue to recognize those who dedicate time and effort to support the state’s professional football team.

“The cheerleaders are such a big part of the football experience,” she said. “We work really hard to support our team and the community.”

The award will be presented at the Vikings’ annual Minnesota Football Honors event on May 4 at the Hilton Minneapolis. In addition to the cheerleading award, eight high school football scholar awards will be presented along with the Vikings’ top player awards for the 2013 season. The event is open to the public and tickets may be purchased online by visiting nffmn.org.