GIVE ME A ‘C’: Colonials cheerleader aiming for NFL dream

By Hillary Federico
Middletown Press
September 27, 2010

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Catherine Avalone | The Middletown Press 9.23.10 Middletown resident, Ashlee Harvey, cheerleader for Hartford Colonials hopes to cheer for the NFL. someday. To buy a glossy print of this photo and more, visit www.middletownpress.com

MIDDLETOWN — Forget the American archetype of a blonde cheerleader in a tight sweater pining for the muscled quarterback. The peppy world of cheer no longer means sideline squads, existing solely to support other teams. They are teams — and athletes — in their own right.

High school and college cheerleaders compete for national championships. They risk terrible injuries to their backs, necks and heads. Some are recruited for college scholarships. They compete without the protective gear of a footballer and sometimes even practice twice as hard.

It sounds like a world turned upside down.

“It makes me so mad when people say cheerleading is not a sport,” Ashlee Harvey said. “I’d like to see a football player or a basketball player do what we do.”

And Harvey, 22, knows a thing or two about what she preaches. A Middletown resident and graduate of Mercy High School’s class of 2007, Harvey was just recently selected to cheer professionally for the Hartford Colonials cheer squad.

A lifelong dancer and gymnast, Harvey first entered the cheerleading arena when she was a freshman at Mercy.

“I had never done (cheerleading) before,” she said. “That was the year ‘Bring it On’ came out and I just thought, ‘I want to do that.’”

She made the squad that year and the rest, as they say, is history.

But the self-proclaimed “triple threat” has not always had it so easy. She said that she has always worked hard for what she wants — her dream to someday cheer professionally.

As a youngster, Harvey grew up surrounded by a world of glamour, costumes and rigorous practice hours. Some may say dancing is in her blood. Her mother, owner and director of Caffrey’s Dance and Gymnastics School, Maureen, instilled within her daughter a love of performing at a very early age.

“I have always been a leader when it comes to dance class,” Harvey said. “My mom jokes that I would never follow her routines. I would come up with my own stuff. I think I was born to dance.”

On a video, which Harvey jokes is kept as blackmail, a miniature version of herself jumps and prances around onstage. Her routine, which she had been perfecting for months went right out the window that day. Without a routine, Harvey let herself feel the music wholly. Unabashedly.

“I ended up getting the Too Cute Miss Attitude award,” she said beaming. “That’s probably my most prized moment. I won’t let my mom live it down.”

As the years progressed, Harvey made her way from a dancer to a teacher. At the age of 15 she decided to create and open her own dance class at her mother’s studio.

“They’re really like family,” she said. “A lot of my dancers I taught as babies and they’re 12 years old now talking about boys and they have cell phones.

“I always say I’m never going to have kids because I already have about 50 children here.”

Today, after making the transition to cheerleading, Harvey has made sure not to forget her roots.

“I still teach,” she said pointing proudly to the hordes of medals and stacks of trophies surrounding her in the dance studio.

Outfitted in a blue practice sweat suit, the curly haired young woman never stops smiling. She sips on an iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts and keeps her legs crossed demurely as she talks, at times animatedly, with her hands.

You would never guess that Harvey has been up since 8 a.m. or balances a job as a receptionist in addition to teaching and cheerleading.

When asked how she makes it through eight hours of work, racing to dance class — the little ones are like my extra cup of coffee — and five hours of rigorous cheerleading practice — we do 288 high kicks every night — Harvey is blunt.

“I just keep smiling.

“Sometimes I think I’d really like to go out with my friends instead. You don’t go home and it just stops, that’s true, but it’s a passion. I can’t imagine my life without any of it.”

And that is Harvey in a nutshell — ever appreciative and always positive. Her one flaw?

“I cry a lot,” she said, her curls bouncing as she laughed.

“When I made the team, I cried. At our first game, I cried. When I received my choreography award, I cried.”

But don’t think she cried because she’s sad.

“I’m feeling nothing but joy right now,” she said. “I’m growing so much through this experience. I’m seeing that you always have to be a role model because people are looking up to you and watching your every move.”

And though she is an all-star cheerleader now, Harvey credits her knowledge of football to her boyfriend of six years, high school sweetheart, Dustin.

“When I met (Dustin) I was your typical girly-girl. I liked ballet, and dance and makeup. He’s taught me everything about football. Now, I know random football facts and can actually hold a conversation with Dustin and his friends. Now, I can say, ‘yes, I am a football fan.’”

When asked what the future holds, Harvey said she doesn’t know.

“I don’t know if I’m going to try out again (next season) or try out somewhere else, but it’s going to be really hard to leave these girls.

“Ultimately, one day, I hope to cheer for the NFL,” she said.