Students Do Double Duty as Colts Cheerleaders
By Tara Jones
Ball State Daily News
At 11 p.m., Breanna Fonner is just getting back to her apartment in Muncie. Even though she still has homework to do, she is unable to focus because her brain wants to “shut down.” Her day began at 8 a.m. and since then she had juggled attending class, studying, working out, an hour car ride to Indianapolis with five other girls, three-and-a-half hours of learning new routines and another hour trip back to Muncie.
This is just a typical day for Fonner, a Ball State University junior and NFL cheerleader for the Indianapolis Colts. However, she isn’t alone — five other Ball State students/Colts cheerleaders manage working a full-time job and being full-time students.
OVERCOMING MISCONCEPTIONS
Jessica Mendez, a senior telecommunications major from South Bend, has been cheerleading competitively for 10 years and is in her third season with the Colts. She decided to transfer to Ball State from Indiana University South Bend because her parents were Ball State alumni and she could be closer to the training facility. However, the Ball State six are not the only cheerleaders attending college.
“I think we’re the biggest group from a university,” she said. “We pull up and people say, ‘Oh, the Ball State girls are here!’”
Some of the other cheerleaders on the Colts squad are attending Purdue University, Indiana State University, Indiana University and IUPUI
“That’s one of the biggest misconceptions,” she said. “Many people think we’re just pretty faces with nothing else to us. But we’re intelligent women. Nearly everyone on the team is either in college or just graduated,” she said.
BEGINNING A DREAM
Fonner, a human resource management major from Evansville, was always a fan of football but becoming a Colts cheerleader was a dream she envisioned in college.
“I had two older brothers, so I grew up watching football,” she said.Fonner never participated in cheerleading before, but had been dancing since she was 3 and performing since she was 8. However, during a visit home her freshman year at Ball State, she was inspired to start cheerleading when her family was watching a Colts game.
“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that looks like so much fun!’” she said.
Even though her family was skeptical she would pursue it, she looked up information online and continued to gain interest in cheering for an NFL team. Her efforts paid off after she went to tryouts and made the squad.
For Larissa Stanfield, a public communications major from Peru, Ind., becoming a Colts cheerleader was a dream of hers since she was young, especially since she was raised as a Colts fan.
“My dad took me to the games when I was younger. I’ve always wanted to be a Colts cheerleader,” Stanfield said.
THE MOST STRESSFUL MONTH
Stanfield has been cheerleading since the fifth grade and has been dancing since she was 3 years old. After looking up to a girl who was an Indiana Pacers cheerleader, Stanfield decided to try out for the Colts when she was 19. She reached the finals but didn’t make the team. After taking a year off and working hard, improving her fitness and taking dance classes in Indianapolis, she once again tried her luck for the squad at the Colts Training Facility in Indianapolis.
This tryout process takes about a month and can begin with as many as 400 women who must learn routines and perform them in front of a panel of judges. If women weren’t cut in the initial round, they can be invited to practice as a team for three weeks, where cuts will continually be made throughout, Stanfield said. Last year it began in April, so not only did she have to prepare her routines but also for Finals Week.
“It was the most stressful month of my life,” Stanfield said.
This process ends with the final audition night where cheerleaders-to-be showcase their talents in front of family, friends and judges at the Pavilion in Indianapolis. At the end of the night, and as the hopefuls wait in a different room, the names comprising the new squad are announced.
Even with her improvements, she never believed she would make the cut, she said.
“There are so many other girls, they’re all so beautiful, fun and great dancers. They only took 32 girls, but everyone there deserved it,” Stanfield said.Despite her doubts, Stanfield made the squad and is now in her second season for the Colts.
FULL-TIME JOB
Not only do the six Ball State students cheer for the Colts during their home games; they are also required to make 25 public appearances before the playoffs — if this isn’t accomplished, they do not get to cheer.
Practices have also been extended to learn new routines for the AFC Championship this Sunday. Despite the work involved and not being able to live the ‘typical life of a college student,’ being a Colts cheerleader has been a life-changing experience for Fonner.
“I get to meet 300 fans in one day. It’s exciting, something I’ll never forget,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s worthwhile.”
