Catholic High Alum Makes Pro Bowl as Eagles Cheerleader
By Paula Wolf
LancasterOnline
The six players from the Philadelphia Eagles will not be the only ones representing the franchise at this year’s Pro Bowl in Arizona.
Joining them will be Lancaster Catholic High School graduate Alicia Marie Parks, one of the team’s 39 cheerleaders.
“It was such a humbling experience” to be chosen, said Parks, 25, who’s in her third year on the squad.
The announcement was made during the Eagles’ home game versus Dallas last month.
“I was just floored” to hear the news, said Parks, who was able to share it with her family.
A press release from the Eagles called Parks “a talented performer and fan favorite.”
Barbara Zaun, who directs the Birds cheerleaders, said in the release that Parks “is well-respected by her teammates and will be an outstanding representative … at the Pro Bowl. She is very deserving of this wonderful honor.”
A 2007 alumna of Lancaster Catholic, Parks described cheerleading for the Eagles as “a part-time job but a full-time commitment.”
She is a 2011 magna cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a bachelor’s degree in education and also received a master’s in history from Villanova University.
Parks works in Philadelphia at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania as lead educator for “HEAD for the future,” a program that promotes document-based learning in the K-12 classroom.
She said she’ll arrive in Arizona days before the Jan. 25 Pro Bowl, and faces a packed itinerary.
“We’re going to be busy as soon as we get there,” Parks said.
She was also sent the Pro Bowl choreography in advance, and “we have to learn 10 dances” ahead of time, she said.
Once they get there, the cheerleaders — one from each NFL team — will rehearse every day; do morning shows with Arizona media; and hold a cheerleading camp for special-needs children, Parks said.
“We do that with the Eagles,” she said of the camp, and it’s something Parks really enjoys.
At the Pro Bowl, which airs at 8 p.m. on ESPN, the cheerleaders will perform at halftime and throughout the game.
A presence in the community
“I’ve always been a huge Eagles fan,” said Parks, who moved to Philadelphia from North Carolina after receiving her undergraduate degree.
Her parents, Bob and Janet Parks, live in Palmyra, and she has extended family from Philadelphia.
She said her mom and dad, who will be joining her at the Pro Bowl, are big supporters. “They’ll always been there for everything I’ve done.”
Parks said she decided to try out for the Eagles’ cheerleading squad because she wanted to get back to dancing.
While at Lancaster Catholic, she performed in musicals and had other dance experience.
The Birds cheerleaders “are mostly a dance team,” she said.
So Parks went to the yearly auditions, where she was among 500 or so women.
Only eight new cheerleaders were chosen — and she was one of them.
“I was overjoyed,” Park said, and a little bit shocked, too.
Now a squad veteran, she said she’s established a bond with her fellow cheerleaders. “I love getting to hang out with them every week.”
So what’s involved in being an Eagles cheerleader? A lot more than performing during home games, it turns out.
Park said the women “do a ton of events to promote NFL PLAY 60,” a campaign to encourage kids to get the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day.
They also push breast cancer awareness, a cause close to her heart because it’s affected members of her family, she said.
The cheerleaders show up at schools, businesses and charities, and participate in salute-to-veterans events, Parks said.
“We are everywhere,” she said — even planting trees.
She said she likes to encourage girls especially to follow their dreams.
“It’s a lot of fun to make public appearances,” Parks said, particularly with children.
