Boot camp is over and the new team has been selected. Go here to see the new squad.
Titans cheerleaders are more than pretty faces
By Melonee Hurt
Nashville Metromix
August 17, 2010
[Photo Credit:Samuel M. Simpkins]
It’s one thing to cheer for your Tennessee Titans from the comfort of your Barcalounger with one hand in a bowl of chips and the other hand wrapped around a cold beer.
It’s another thing to devote an entire year to hours of practice most days, learning dozens of routines, making public appearances and, for every home game, arriving four hours beforehand while being the last ones to leave the stadium. All while looking polished and faultless, working full-time, being a parent and keeping up with a strict regimen to maintain that picture-perfect figure, hair, nails and award-winning smile.
The Tennessee Titans cheerleaders are definitely pretty faces, but one look inside the organization reveals there’s so much more to these 26 girls than meets the eye.
“We have cheerleaders right now who practice law and medicine, we have a neuroscience major, and there are girls in public relations, marketing and education,” said Stacie Kinder, director of cheerleading for the Titans. “They are beautiful, but they aren’t bimbos. Do we have bimbos try out? Yes. Do they make the team? No.”
Upwards of 300 girls audition each year. Any woman at least 18 years old with a high school diploma can try out. And getting in the door is easy.
Getting to the next step? Not so much.
On the first day of auditions, the group is narrowed to 48. Then Kinder spends nearly a month with them getting to know them. She knows they can dance; that’s why they made the final 48. Now she needs to figure out whether they can fit the mold of a Titans cheerleader.
That mold has been carefully sculpted by Kinder since she took her position seven seasons ago. She knows exactly what she wants in a cheerleader. Yes, it’s the five-star figure, the sparkling smile and the endless energy, but it’s also drive.
“It’s looks and human characteristics, and I won’t take one without the other,” Kinder said. “I’d call the look a diva on the outside and girl-next-door on the inside. Their physical appearance would turn your head, but we have a very distinct culture on the team of women who are driven, career-oriented and have high moral standings and personal accountability.”
Once they make the team, the real work begins. During their first summer on the team, it’s training camp five days a week, dance four days a week and “Fitness Fridays,” where they are coached by an Olympic decathlete. Once the season starts, they practice two to three days a week.
Kinder said the biggest misconception about the squad is how hard they work.
“It’s an enormous time commitment,” Kinder said. “They don’t roll out of bed looking like that every morning. They are in the gym five to six days a week. They have their hair done every three weeks. They choose to significantly watch what they eat. Most people don’t realize that to put together an 80-second routine on the field might take eight hours of practice.”
One cheerleader on this year’s team also cheered for the 2004-05 season. Since then, she graduated from Belmont University, married, had a baby and made the team again only
9 months after having her baby.
The cheerleaders have to maintain a goal weight that is set for each member of the squad by Kinder. They cannot fraternize with the football team, and there’s no time for late nights out. And dessert? Forget it.
“You are expected to maintain your weight,” she said. “If you break the player rule, you are fired on the spot. If the weight isn’t maintained, you are suspended.”
So if the team has to be full of ladies who are disciplined, professional, successful and talented, why so much emphasis on their looks? A million reasons.
Kinder said more than a million people a month visit the Titans cheerleader page.
“All they know is how you look. It’s the nature of the business,” she said. “It’s the same as with football. Mostly all you see is how they play. You don’t really get to know who the players are as people. Our world is very similar.”
[Titans Cheerleaders Gallery at Metromix.com]
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Talented ladies ages 18 and up who want to be on the best minor league football dance/cheer squad in South Texas should audition for the San Antonio Warriors Cheerleaders. You will cheer for the MPFL San Antonio Warriors Football Organization which has been in existence since 2004 and is currently ranked in the top 5 of the best minor professional football organizations in the nation in the SemiPro BCS.
Auditions will be held on September 26th, 2010 at Bally Total Fitness – 255 E. Basse, San Antonio , TX 78209 (Quarry Market).
Ladies should submit their application online at www.sawarriorsfootball.com. More audition information will be sent to ladies who submit an application.
Due to a conflict with a wedding, only a few of the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders made it to P-R-O this year, but it was great to see them and their new uniform designed by The Line Up.
Vikings Cheerleaders with Head Coach Tami Krause
2011 SPARKS DANCE TEAM AUDITIONS
Sunday, September 19th @ 10:30am
The Boston Blazers are looking for dedicated, talented, outgoing, attractive and physically fit dancers with solid jazz / hip-hop technique and extensive performance experience for the 2011 Sparks Dance Team. Responsibilities include performance at all 2011 home games at TD Garden and participation on various promotional/charity activities and mini Sparkler dance clinics.
Weekly rehearsals are held on Monday night 7:30-10pm at Boston Athletic Club starting September 27th through the end of the season (April/May). Dancers must provide their own transportation to and from auditions, practices, games, promotions and clinics. Applicants must be 18 years of age and a high school graduate. This is an unpaid position.
Audition Details
Date, Time Sunday, September 19th (registration @ 10:30am, audition starts at 11)
Location: Boston Athletic Club (653 Summer Street, Boston, MA)
http://www.bostonathleticclub.com/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp
Details: Please wear form fitting cropped/half top, fitted shorts/dance briefs, and comfortable dance/athletic shoes (tights optional). Hair should be down and hair and make-up should be performance ready. The audition will consist of a brief warm-up, across the floor combinations (kicks, turns, etc.) and a short jazz / hip-hop combination. Candidates will be evaluated on dance technique, performance, poise, physical fitness and appearance.
Please Bring:
Ø Recent 5×7 headshot – photo will not be returned
Ø Completed application form and waiver
Ø Non-refundable $20 audition fee
Contact: Jennifer S Kim, Sparks Dance Team Director: Jenny@blazerslacrosse.com
[Complete Sparks Auditions Info]
The P-R-O Conventions not only attracts the top Cheerleaders and Dancers in US professional sports, but from around the world as well. Las Celestes are the first soccer cheerleaders in Mexico and perform at the home games of Mexico City’s Cruz Azul.
[Official Las Celestes Website]
Our good friends over at ScienceCheerleader.com have a great interview Erica of the SF 49ers Gold Rush. Please check it out.
[Erica interviewed at ScienceCheerleader.com]
Rampage are searching the San Antonio area and surrounding community for talented, enthusiastic young women to compile their 2010-11 Ice Girls squad. Auditions for the team will be held this Saturday at Lifetime Fitness (located at 281 just north of 1604). Registration starts at 3 p.m. and tryouts will begin promptly at 3:30 p.m.
All candidates will learn a one minute dance combination that they will perform in small groups in front of a panel of judges. Each candidate will be interviewed by Spurs Sports and Entertainment marketing representatives to determine the best candidates that will represent the organization’s core values.
“We have received many qualified applications this year and seem to have a large talent pool to choose from,” said Ice Girls Choreographer Raquel Garcia. “Our focus is to find ladies that can engage and entertain fans at Rampage games, but also ladies who will uphold our company values and represent our organization well within the San Antonio community.”
Interested candidates can apply by logging on to sarampage.com. There is a $10 fee for each application.
Another first-time squad to AllPro3 this year was the the Rockford IceHogs Fire & Ice Girls. The Ice Girls skate, dance and help with promotions at all home games of the AHL Rockford (Ill.) Ice Hogs.
(You can click most of the horizontal photos for a larger image.)
The Wilmington Sea Dolls, the dance and cheer team of the Wilmington Sea Dawgs, are pleased to announce open audition interview/tryouts for the upcoming 2010-2011 season to be held on Saturday, September 11th at 3:00 pm at A Leap Above Dance Studio which is located at 5015 Wrightsville Avenue in Wilmington, NC. Stacey Bell, Choreographer for the Wilmington Sea Dolls will be coordinating the try outs.
“The Wilmington Sea Dolls are looking for dancers who are dynamic, well spoken, and talented to represent our organization.” says Bell. “If you have the drive and dedication that it takes to be a professional dancer, we encourage you to tryout to be a Wilmington Sea Dolls team member”.
The audition requirements are as follows:
* Must be 18 years of age or older
* Dress in two-piece aerobic/workout outfit (jog bra and bike shorts) or a two-piece leotard
* Only dance or athletic shoes with non-marking bottoms allowed
* Provide a head and shoulder photo
* Bring completed application (application is available on our website, www.wilmingtonseadolls.com)
* $10 Audition Fee – check, cash or money order accepted
