Legends of the Fall: The 2016 P-R-O Convention – Part Two

The P-R-O Convention in Atlanta is the premier professional cheerleading convention and attracts the very best professional cheerleaders and choreographers in the nation.  Squads from the NFL, NBA, NHL, and minor league baseball gathered in Atlanta for a fun filled weekend of dance, team building and networking.

The staff of All-Pro3 gave UltimateCheerleaders.com complete access to the convention’s events.  In the second part of my article, we continue our coverage of P-R-O with a report on Sunday’s events.

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SUNDAY

If you have read my prior articles on this event, this is where I start off by saying that I am tired and sore from the previous day’s festivities and this year was no different.  For everyone in attendance, from the staff to the cheerleaders to the photographers, we were all suffering from a hard day’s work, literally hours of non stop dance action.  And today would be no different.  You get your money’s worth at the P-R-O Convention and the organizers of the event had scheduled an early start for Sunday.

Start early and end early.  There would be no lunch break today and classes were scheduled pretty much non stop from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.  And without the normal staggered Sunday lunch break, I would not be able to grab a few girls for my All Star feature during the interlude, so I had to make adjustments and I started asking girls to pose for me beginning at 7:15 am when they started trickling in.

At 8:00 am, the doors were opened to the ballroom and the ladies got to work. Tennessee Titans Cheerleader Director Stacie Kinder started things off by getting the girls all stretched out and warmed up.  This would be important as there were a number of injuries, mostly pulled muscles, this weekend…more than I have ever seen at P-R-O.

For the past few conventions, the staff have put together a mashup of mini dances that they call the Sideline Blitz.  Each instructor comes up to the stage and choreographs a couple of eight counts and they run the steps a few times before the next instructor comes up and repeats the process.  When all of the sequences have been introduced, they run the music and let it go.  It’s a fun little exercise that gets the girls all pumped up and ready for the real dance instruction to come.

After the Sideline Blitz, the first classes were set to go.  It was 9:00 am and the first of fourteen sessions were being taught this hour.  In the grand ballroom, Derric Whitfield of the Washington Wizards choreographed a high energy “booty funk” dance.  In room 2, Minnesota Vikings’s Tami Krause demonstrated a pom routine for the field.  In room 3, Stephanie Jojokian of the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders taught a dance technique class.  In room 4, Courtney Moore of the Seattle Sea Gals choreographed a jazzy pom routine.  And in room 5, Ginger (who’s team affiliation escapes me) choreographed a “sassy U” pom routine.

At the conclusion of the instruction, the girls reconvened in the main ballroom to showcase what they had learned.

After the first showcase, the girls hurried off to their next scheduled round of sessions (10:30 – 11:45).  In the grand ballroom, Tracy Rutledge demonstrated a funky pom dance routine.  In room 2, the Falcons Jakene Ashford led her group in a jazzy pom routine.  In room 3, Brandii McCoy from the Charlotte Hornets choreographed a fun novelty dance.  And in room 4, Catapult Fit organized a fitness class.

Once again, at the conclusion of the instructional session, the girls reconvened in the grand ballroom to present what they had learned.

No rest for the weary.  At 12:00 p.m., the girls reconvened for the last breakout sessions.  In the grand ballroom Stacie Kinder from the Tennessee Titans demonstrated a “country/booty” dance.  In room 2, Kristina Ferdig of the Arizona Cardinals choreographed a jazz dance routine.  Katie Gibbons of the San Antonio Spurs performed a jazzy funk themed routine in room 3.  In room 4, Ginger was back to show off a “Sassy U” Jazz dance.  And in room 5, Tara Battiato of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers choreographed a holiday themed dance.

At the conclusion of the instructional portion of the session, the girls gathered one, last time in the grand ballroom to show off what they had learned.

After the final showcase, all the girls were called back to the floor to perform the group dance to close out P-R-O. One last dance, one time.  And that was that…another P-R-O Convention was in the books.  250 girls, 30 classes, and 2 days of fun!

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I would like to thank Brandii McCoy, Alto Gary, Tracy Rutledge and the staff of AllPro3 for allowing me to cover the 2016 P-R-O Convention.  I had another amazing experience covering your convention.

For more cheerleader articles, please visit my personal blog: thehottestdanceteam.wordpress.com.