Field Trip: 2010 Clippers Fan Patrol Auditions

The L.A. Clippers annual Fan Patrol auditions took place last month. The Fan Patrol performs at Clippers home games. They do tumbling, partner stunts, all kinds of other things to help keep the crowd hyped up. They’re a fun bunch, and their auditions are never boring.

Every year, I enjoy the tryouts a little more. When I first encountered the Fan Patrol, a few years ago, about 95% of everything they did scared the crap out of me. It was terrifying to watch them flipping and tumbling and throwing each other up in the air like it’s no big deal. I’m getting used to it though. I’ve never ever seen a Fan Patroler get hurt. So these days, only about 37% of everything they do scares the crap out of me.

I hardly ever flinch and cover my eyes anymore.

The thing I find most interesting about these tryouts is the instant trust that happens between total strangers. You can show up to auditions, not knowing anyone in the room, and two minutes later some dude you just met is balancing you on the palm of his hand, eight feet up in the air. (Granted, there are spotters everywhere so no one gets hurt, but I think I’d have a few questions before I was ready to commit to the activity.)



Fan Patrol auditions are a very different thing from dance auditions. With dance auditions, you’re on your own. It’s every dancer for herself. This is different. You can dance by yourself, but you can’t do stunts by yourself. These people have to depend on each other, so it’s a very cooperative environment. Everyone arrives early so they can “test run” their prospective partners. They mix it up – all of the guys working with all of the girls, in order to decide who they want to audition with. The veterans are in high demand, of course. Rookie guys want to practice with veteran girls. Rookie girls want to practice with veteran guys. Everyone is very outgoing, so it all happens very easily. The veterans are all very approachable and don’t hesitate to work with the newbies. There’s none of that “we’re veterans and we’re the shiz-nit” attitude.

(Speaking of veterans, where the heck is Tami???? I am not happy about this.)

Every time I go to a dance audition, there are one or two girls who are inexperienced, but figure “Hey, I’m a terrific dancer, so how hard could this be?” That doesn’t happen at the Fan Patrol audition. There’s no way to fake it, so everyone walks in the door with experience. Either you can tumble or you can’t. You can stunt or you can’t. Some are better at it than others, but everyone has a grasp of the basics.

Another thing that differs from a dance audition is the simplicity of attire. You don’t see a lot of crystals, sequins, accessories, doo-dads, crazy colors, or barely-there attire. Function wins over fashion because these girls can’t afford for their outfits to get in their way. They’re also, without exception, in awesome shape. There are no softies here.

I have nothing but admiration for the talent and skill on display. HOWEVER, I also feel compelled to point out that as friendly as these people are, they are also a bunch of maniacs. Let’s be honest. You have to be a little bit mental to be involved in this sort of activity, especially at this level. I am not saying they should feel bad about themselves. I just want them to understand that normal people don’t go around hurling themselves (and each other) in the air like that. These are people who stand on top of each other for fun. I’m just saying.

James tosses Melek around like a Tinker Toy

There are three parts to the Fan Patrol audition: tumbling, stunting, and a third thing I’ll call “crowd appeal.” Tumbling is a solo thing. Candidates are called up in groups of four. One by one, they each have to demonstrate a standing back tuck. (I am so full of it. I have no idea what a standing back tuck is. I must’ve heard that somewhere.)

Most everyone pulled it off. Some did a toe touch first. A few used spotters. A couple touched their hands to the ground, which I don’t think they were supposed to do.

Hasani does a toe-touch

Vince catches some air with his back flip

Vince spots Cortlin

Next, they had an opportunity to do a tumbling pass, where you do a bunch of flips from one corner of the room to the opposite corner. Those who did the pass threw in cartwheels, somersaults, back flips, tucks, aerials, and …other stuff. I’m sure there were other things going on, but .that’s pretty much all the tumbling terminology I know. The tumbling pass wasn’t mandatory, so some people opted out.


Julie’s tumbling pass

Summer’s tumbling pass

Vic’s tumbling pass

Partner stunts were next. Each pair had to do a heel stretch and one other stunt. This is the part where it could get confusing because many people (veterans in particular) took multiple turns in order to partner with different people. Shea partnered with Hasani. Hasani partnered with Melek. Melek partnered with James. James partnered with Jessica, and so on and so on and so on. Before long, everyone was out of order, so It was a little challenging to keep track. Before starting, each pair had to let the judges know if both people were being judged, or if one was being judged and the other was assisting. For example, Craig partnered with Cortlin, Summer, and Marquita, but the judges only scored him one of those times. The other two times he was just there to provide a base for the girl during her audition. Capisce?


Nina and Vince, with Brian spotting

Shea and Hasani

Jacquelyn and Ryan with Brian spotting

The last part was Crowd Appeal. This was meant to simulate real life when there’s a lull in the basketball game for a timeout or whatever. Whenever this happens, the Fan Patrol runs out on the court to tumble, do some stunts, throw some t-shirts and get the crowd to make some noise. For this audition, Nate the Coach put music on for about 20 seconds and the aspiring candidates had to go out there and generate some excitement. Everyone cheers each other on, so it gets very loud.

Let’s go Clippers!

One group had four guys and no girls. You need girls for stunts, so this limited their options to tumbling and bumping chests. James did a few stunts with an imaginary partner.


Hey, you have to improvise with what you’ve got.
(I pasted a partner in, so the guy doesn’t look like a complete nut.)

After crowd appeal, the judges went off somewhere to deliberate. There were around 40 people in the running, and the judges were looking to choose around 20 people for the team. The judges’ task was a little harder this year because the Fan Patrol is changing things up. Up until now, the team has done mostly ad hoc stunts at the corners of the court and sometimes at center court during breaks in the game. This year, they will do more full-on performances, with music, synchronized tumbling, and choreographed stunts. I imagine it will be something like you see on the National Cheerleading Championships on ESPN. It is going to be way cool.

A key thing to know about the Fan Patrol is if you leave them to their own devices for too long, they bored. And then they get up to shenanigans. I managed to corner the veteran girls before the group started to get restless.

Sugar and spice and everything nice. That’s what Fan Patrol girls are made of. But don’t be fooled. These girls pack a lot of muscle. They’re half my size and could kick my butt any day of the week. (Hello, have you heard about Kealey Oliver?)

Anyway, as I was saying, these Fan Patrol-types are real daredevils. They’re always wanting to “try” new stuff. Scary stuff. I turned my back for one minute and look what goes on:


Hey Melek, I have an idea. You do a back flip and I’ll catch you, throw you up on the air, and balance you on my forehead.

Look! No hands!

Uh-oh, the guys found civilian to play with. I think Adrianne’s about to freak out.
Lucky for her, the judges came back right around then.

The judges announced the finalists and arranged to do interviews the following week. In the end, they chose ten guys and eleven girls for the team.

Congrats to the 2010-11 Clippers Fan Patrol!
[Click here for more photos]

Cortlin, Jacquelyn, Jessica, Julie, Mandy, and Marquita

Melek, Nina, Stephanie, Shea, and Summer

Arturo, Brian, Craig, Greg, and Hasani

James, Luis, Monte, Ryan, and Vince