View from the sidelines
By Michelle Nigro
Wicked Local Swampscott
August 9, 2012
Swampscott — At the end of the upcoming football season, and at the ripe old age of 22, I will turn in my pompoms and retire from my career as a New England Patriots cheerleader.
When I initially auditioned for the team three years ago, I was a sophomore at Emerson College who had a dream of cheering for her favorite team.
I remember the day I made the squad like it was yesterday. After weeks of tiresome auditions, I had tears of joy as I read my name off the official squad list. I am honored to have regained my spot every year since.
While I have bittersweet feelings that this will be my last season with the team, I know I will always look back at these years as some of the best times of my life.
I remember going to a Patriots game with my dad and brother at the start of my freshman year at Emerson, and joking that the next time I’d be at a game, I’d be on the sidelines. I never knew that those sidelines would become such an important part of my life.
The first time I put on that red, white and blue uniform as a member of the team, I was brimming with excitement. And as I stepped out onto the field at Gillette Stadium, surrounded by thousands of screaming Patriots fans, I couldn’t stop smiling.
As much as I’ve enjoyed my time as a professional cheerleader, it’s certainly been a lot of hard work. Endless hours of practices and commitments have consumed my schedule, making free time a rare commodity.
The director of the Patriots cheerleading program, Tracy Sormanti, runs a rigorous tryout-and-boot-camp process each year. And even when the off-season comes, she still makes sure that we’re keeping up with the conditioning.
While most people my age have been spending their summer basking at the beach, I’ve been at Gillette learning our team’s choreography for the upcoming season with the 23 other girls on the team. We practice for six long hours every Saturday, and when the day is over, I’m nothing short of exhausted.
When most fans come to Gillette, they are completely out of breath by the time they walk up the long, zigzagging ramps to get to their seats on the upper level. But as a cheerleader, my teammates and I usually start practice by sprinting up and down those ramps.
And when it comes to end-zone kicks, practice makes perfect! We do six sets of eight high kicks at every practice, which results in a whopping 168 kicks by the end of the exercise. I’ve endured my fair share of pulled muscles and sore necks, but I wouldn’t change anything about the last two-and-a-half years.
The overwhelming number of experiences and opportunities that the Patriots organization offers its cheerleaders is incredible — we make more than 700 appearances throughout New England every year. I’ve had the privilege of putting smiles on children’s faces at the Boston Children’s Hospital, and I was able to be a part of a teenager’s wish to come to a game and meet the team through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
The team’s efforts in the community were nationally recognized this past year, as the New England Patriots cheerleaders were named the best squad in the NFL in 2012 by Darren Rovell, a sports business columnist for CNBC. Rovell ranked every NFL squad based on brand equity developed through marketing, social media, community involvement and fan interaction. We were so excited to have come out on top.
We were overjoyed to continue the 2012 season. I will never forget being on the sidelines when the Patriots won the AFC Championship. Seeing 70,000 fans jump up and celebrate as red-and-blue confetti was shot into the sky was one of the best feelings in the world. I still have a little piece of confetti tucked away in my scrapbook!
Traveling to Indianapolis to cheer on the team last February was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The entire weekend now seems like a dream.
For four days, we went nonstop, trying to fit in as much as we could. We made appearances on the Today Show, Fox and Friends, and E! News. We also visited a military training camp — which was full of Rhode Island Patriots fans — and spent time with children attending the game through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
When Super Bowl Sunday finally came, I had the biggest chills as we stepped into Lucas Oil Stadium. As Maria Menounos — a famous journalist, actress and Emerson alum — brushed passed me in her bedazzled Patriots jersey, I looked around and attempted to soak everything in from my breathtaking view from the sidelines.
To think that I performed on the sidelines of Super Bowl XLVI as a senior in college is surreal. I’m so incredibly grateful for that experience. Years from now, I know I’ll still cherish the memories I made on the sidelines and friendships I made because of the team.
Now, as we prepare for another record-breaking season, I am savoring every single moment of my final year on the team. Tonight marks the first game of my last season, and I won’t be taking one second of it for granted. Cheers!
