Checking in with the ChivaGirls

It’s March, and the Major League Soccer season is well underway. The ChivaGirls, dance team for Chivas USA have hit their stride. With only two games under their sparkly belts, they’ve experienced both the highs and lows of pro sports entertainment. The home opener on March 11 was a blast. It’s always exciting to get back out there after a few months of hiatus. The girls mingled with fans before the game, signing autographs and taking lots of pictures. They also performed two short dance routines on a stage outside of the arena. Their performance at halftime was a real marathon, with a kickline, individual introductions, and a full out routine to Flor Rida’s “Good Feeling.” The crowd’s energy was up and all the girls were riding high after the game.

Click here to check out the photos from the home opener.

Game two was six days later, on St. Patrick’s Day. All week long, local meteorologists broadcasted dire warnings about major storms over the coming weekend. (This being Southern California, “major storms” consist mostly of some rain and maybe some wind, but around here it’s a BIG deal.) It was cloudy and cool during the pre game rehearsal. All of the ChivaGirls were bundled up, until they got warm enough from dancing to peel off layers of scarves and sweatshirts. No one said it, but they were all thinking about how cold they were in sweats, and how much MORE fun the weather would be once they ‘d changed into their uniforms. Spandex has many outstanding qualities, but warmth isn’t one of them.

When it was time to go out and meet the fans, the girls marched out with their chins up. Not a one of them complained as the signed autographs for fans who were bundled up in blankets, hats and scarves. The girls just kept smiling and while the wind flipped their skirts around and blew their hair every which way.

It was cloudy during rehearsal. It was cloudy before the game. It was cloudy during pre-game. And it was cloudy as the girls headed out for halftime. But everyone was jazzed because we’d escaped the big rain storm. The halftime performance was a novelty dance to “Shake Your Groove Thing.” There were some cartwheels involved in the choreography, and no one had looked forward to cartwheeling on a muddy soccer field in the rain.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature was in a snarky mood that night. It started drizzling just before the girls took the field, and turned into a full on downpour during their routine.

And then just as they hit the ending pose, the rain stopped.

I don’t think it rained again the rest of the night. How fortunate we were that the sixty-second rain storm took place entirely during the ChivaGirls halftime performance. But these girls are pros. The photos don’t tell the true story. Yeah, there are rain spots on their uniforms and a little stringy-ness to their hair, but otherwise you can’t tell at all they were freezing their pom poms off the whole night. Good times, ladies. Good times.

Click here to check out the rest of the photos from game 2.