Our last look at Draft Day is from FedEx Field and the Redskins Party on Day 3 (Saturday) of the Draft.

Just before noon the Redskins Cheerleaders made their first appearance. They took to the field for a short performance and to welcome the Redskins number one draft pick.

Lee-Ann

Then it was upstairs to the Club Level for autographs and photos.

Jamilla and Sabrina

And late in the afternoon about 4:30 the Cheerleaders returned to the field under threatening skies. The Cheerleaders were broken into for groups by seniority and each performed for the fans. As is the tradition, the rookies were the last on stage and performed the exhausting, high-energy, 7+ minute routine known as “The Rock”.

Tequia

[Redskins Cheerleaders at Draft Day Gallery]

[Redskins Cheerleaders Roster]

It’s not all pom-poms and dancing for hard-working Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

By Tang Zhe
China Daily

Malia Morales is living proof that cheerleading is more than just pretty faces, well-shaped figures and hot dancing.

Nicole Hamilton (left) and Malia Morales of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders pose during their trip to Beijing as American Airlines ambassadors last month.

During the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad’s recent visit to Beijing, Morales, a 27-year-old on her first overseas tour, shared her experiences about her profession and also life beyond the pom-poms and high leg kicks.

“A lot of students on our squad go to school during the day and practice at night. They get home around midnight and do all their homework from midnight to 2am for the next day. Several of us have fulltime jobs,” said Morales, who graduated from Stanford University with two bachelors degree, and is now a financial advisor with an investment firm.

“I’m in the office all day long, working with clients and then I go straight to practice which goes all night it’s non-stop all day for me.”

The Dallas Cowboys, one of the most successful teams in the National Football League (NFL) with five Super Bowl titles, set a rigorous standard for cheerlead and make the squad never comes easy.

Only 36 girls are recruited out of 600 after 10-hour-a-day training sessions which include long-distance running, aerobic exercises and at least 100 push-ups.

The tough training is in preparation for a hectic schedule which the dancers face once recruited.

The squad often travels throughout the US and around the world and sometimes the cheerleaders average only four hours sleep per day over the course of two weeks.

The most difficult part for cheerleaders is balancing work or school, a personal life and cheerleading.

“I cheered from 2006 to 2007, which were great years in the (stock) market,” Morales said. “Then I retired to focus on my career when the market crashed in ’08, and, in May, 2009, I started preparing for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders’ try-outs when things started to rebound again.”

Cheerleading brought joy during a time of career turmoil.

Recognized for their energetic dancing and spirit, Morales and her teammates are world famous.

“I once went to an interview and was speaking to a director who would eventually decide whether the company would hire me,” said Morales. “However, the first thing he said to me is ‘are you really a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader’?”

For the next 30 minutes, it was the only topic discussed and she was eventually hired.

“Becoming a cheerleader is what I am most proud of in my life because the experience has allowed me to enrich the lives of others as well as allow myself to grow,” said Nicole Hamilton, who is in her last year as a Cowboys cheerleader. “When you get over the fatigue and tiredness, it becomes easy and then you actually enjoy what you are doing.”

The New York Daily News has a photo gallery from Saturday’s First round of Flight Crew Auditions.

[Flight Crew Audition Gallery at NewYorkDailyNews.com]

And I can’t figure out how to embed it, but if you go the Daily News Video site here, and type Flight Crew in the search box the last video (running time 2:39) covers Saturday’s auditions and includes an interview with our good friend Christina.

I was at auditions, too, and will be working on the photos tonight. They’ll be up soon.

By Nation Hahn
UFL-Football.com

Last month the UFL announced that prominent Central Florida choreographer and dance instructor Billie O’Hara would serve as UFL Cheer and Dance Development Director and Director of the Florida Tusker Cheerleaders. The original press release mentioned her 20 years of experience in the dancing world. She attended numerous prestigious dance schools and has served on the faculty of the Dance Conservatory of Orlando and Academy of Performing Arts. She is a former Orlando Magic dancer and she has danced professionally for the Orlando Predators and various musicians. Reading her resume, however, could not begin to scratch the surface of how busy she has been in the past few weeks as she has sought to put in place dance/cheer directors in all UFL markets.

“Over the past four weeks we have heavily recruited nearly seventy dance and cheer directors for our markets,” commented O’Hara. “We narrowed it down to about 25 in-person interviews which proved to be a difficult task. We had an outpouring of resumes from folks who have danced on NFL, NBA and AFL teams. We had former Cowboys cheerleaders, Laker girls and Raiderettes. You name it and they were represented in the mix. Omaha, in particular, proved to be a difficult market as we had a huge amount of talented professionals interested.”

All of the potential dance/cheer directors proved to be qualified according to O’Hara. Eventually Brian Melekian, the Director of Business Management for the league, and O’Hara made the final decision on the directors for Omaha, Hartford, Sacramento and Las Vegas as O’Hara will serve as the Florida director. O’Hara said that, “It was so difficult to make the final decision but eventually Brian and I reached a decision on the four directors.”

This weekend, May 7th through 9th, will mark the 1st Annual UFL Cheer Directors Convention as the various directors will fly into Orlando for a meet and greet that will also serve as a kickoff meeting to get each of the directors off and running in their markets. Following the convention auditions will be held in each UFL city, likely in June in each of the markets. Potential UFL cheerleaders and dancers can look forward to information on auditions coming out next week so stay tuned!

The Richmond Raiders would like to congratulate Lady Raider Brittany Gordon on her recent accomplishment to become the 2010 Miss Virginia United States!

In April, Brittany was named the new Miss Virginia United States, based on interview, public communication, swimsuit and evening gown pageants. As a Lady Raider, Brittany performs at all home Raiders games at the Coliseum and appears in the community throughout the year. Brittany will appear in her crown at this Friday’s Raiders game on April 30 at 7:00pm.

“My favorite part of being a Lady Raider,” says Brittany, “is giving back to the city of Richmond with this amazing group of women. It’s a true blessing to work alongside them, and an honor to represent the Raiders organization and now the state of Virginia.

In July, Brittany will walk the stage in Las Vegas representing Virginia at the Miss United States pageant. Brittany is from Richmond, VA where she attended Monacan High School then graduated from University of South Carolina. Currently a Campaign Support Coordinator at a local interactive marketing agency, Brittany plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Communications.

Congratulations Brittany!

[Richmond Lady Raiders]

As part of the revamping of the Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders (new uniforms, new attitude, foreign location for calendar shoot, etc.) the squad has launched a brand new website and they’ve already posted photos from the AFC recent photo shoot.

[AtlantaFalconsCheerleaders.com]

Mouat grads will suit up with B.C. Lions dance team

By Cam Tucker
The Abbbotsford Times

They have been best friends since Grade 8, and now the Dynamic Duo of Karessa Van Aert and Jessica MacMillan will be front and centre when the B.C. Lions kick off the 2010 CFL season.

No, they won’t be manning the offensive line or throwing darts for receivers Geroy Simon or Paris Jackson.

Instead, the Abbotsford tandem will be dancing up a storm for the B.C. Lions Felions dance team.

The difference is Van Aert will begin her second season with the Felions, while MacMillan enters as the rookie.

Karessa Van Aert, above, and Jessica MacMillan, best friends and graduates of W.J. Mouat, will represent Abbotsford as members of the B.C. Lions Felions dance team when the 2010 Canadian Football League season kicks off in June.

“We’ve danced together for seven years over at Danceworx Studio and she went in last year to the Felions and she said ‘you have to come when you turn 19,'” said MacMillan, a 2008 W.J. Mouat grad along with Van Aert.

“So I decided to try out this year.”

It certainly wasn’t an easy process for both girls, especially with more than 100 applicants trying to impress the panel of judges at auditions on April 3.

“What’s more nerve racking than the judges was the 100 girls behind them staring at us,” said Van Aert, who attends University of the Fraser Valley with hopes of getting into the nursing program there.

“But the judges won’t put up with girls who aren’t respectful towards teammates. Attitude is definitely important.”

MacMillan added: “It’s definitely intimidating, but everyone was super nice when we were there.”

And now that MacMillan is officially on the squad, she hopes it will bring about new opportunities for her career.

“It opens so many doors,” she said.

“I’m just really excited to see what we experience in this next year.”

MacMillan also has the benefit of her closest friend having a year’s experience with the Felions under her belt.

With everything from commitment to dealing with unruly fans, Van Aert said there is definitely a lot to take in over the course of the season.

“Commitment is definitely something [coaches] have trouble with. They’ve had girls fall through because of that,” Van Aert said.

“The season goes by really fast and it’s a once in a life time experience.”

And when you’re under the spotlight throughout the course of a CFL season, you’re going to have good and bad moments.

“The best moment was probably running on the field for the first time and hearing 34,000 people scream when they called the dance team out,” said Van Aert.

“It’s a surreal feeling.”

And the worst memory?

“We had to do a Halloween game and my group had to wear pumpkin costumes. I have no idea why, it wasn’t enough of a cute costume,” she laughed.

Despite the start of the CFL regular season still two months away, both girls have been inundated with information since they were notified of their selections last week.

There is a swimsuit calendar photo shoot this week followed by weeks of training and choreography before the season begins at the revamped outdoor facility of Empire Stadium.

The fact the Lions will play this season outdoors doesn’t phase the newbie.

“I think it will be really fun actually,” added MacMillan.

But the fact the duo is dancing together again is even better, said Van Aert.

“It’s definitely going to be more fun dancing with a best friend,” she said.

Cheerleaders far more than just pretty faces

By Janet Adamana
Winnipeg Free Press

Sexy uniforms, shiny pompoms, claps, kicks and crazy flips may be the first things that come to mind when you think of cheerleading. But local practitioners want you to know there is a whole lot more to the sport.

“People treat it like it’s not difficult,” says Mickaela McAuliffe, choreographer for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Blue Lightning dance team. “It’s very difficult and very physically demanding.”

Carrie Robson, head coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons cheerleading team, agrees. “Cheerleading isn’t just about motivating a crowd. The stunts, tumbling and routine choreography take months of preparation.”

Robson, 28, has been cheerleading since Grade 6 and knows the sport often has a polarized public opinion. “Most people think of the stereotype of the bubbly, active girl who enthusiastically cheers on her fellow teammates.”

McAuliffe knows this is the popular image and one of her goals is to build a better reputation for the squad. “There’s no dumb blonds on this team,” she says. “We try to really fight that stereotype that we’re all just a bunch of airheads.” Many past teammates, and those auditioning for the 2010 season, are currently in school studying medicine, law and other professions. “We all have professional day jobs and this is something that we like to do for fun.”

Another negative image attached to cheerleading is derived from the typical cheering wardrobe. “The outfits are a bit revealing,” says Fiona Green, chairwoman of women’s and gender studies at the University of Winnipeg. She knows that to some, cheerleading is simply a profession. Like most others, this one has a particular dress code. But she says some women also see it as a way to use what they’ve been given. “A lot of women who are aware of their sexuality know it’s a commodity,” says Green. “That’s the big thing, knowing the rules of the game and knowing how to use it without feeling exploited.”

Although she says she doesn’t know much about cheerleading, she realizes the outfits are just as revealing in most other female sports. “There’s a lot more skin revealed compared to the uniforms worn by men.” She says a majority of the audience at professional games are heterosexual males. “So maybe that’s part of the draw,” she adds, “that these are all young, attractive women, that you can sit and watch.”

McAuliffe knows there are a lot of men at the games, but says her team is more dedicated to the craft of dancing, rather than simply being eye candy. “We work hard to make sure we’re out there entertaining the fans and dancing with legitimate choreography.” McAuliffe has been dancing since the age of three and paved a hefty career in dance, working as a professional choreographer and artistic director of the Doreen Bissett School of Dance. She also started her own dance company, Make Some Noise!, all of which she says helps boost the reputation of the team. “I think our professionalism and my involvement in the dance community brings a level of legitimacy to this team.”

Whether it’s a way to show off your stuff, or a way to express yourself through an art form, cheerleading seems to provide its participants with many positives. “It’s a really good platform for somebody who wants to continue dancing,” says McAuliffe. Many Blue Lightning members were into dance and cheerleading throughout high school and found themselves without many other opportunities for dance after graduation.

One Blue Lightning member, Charlene, whose last name cannot be used due to her contract with the team, saw it as a way to keep doing what she loved. She began her Blue Lightning career at the age of 19. Since then, she’s got more out of it than just a chance to dance. “I’ve learned a lot about myself, public speaking and being confident in my abilities,” she says. “I’m taking all of that to other parts of my life.”

Charlene has been dancing for the Bombers for the past six years. Although performing is her passion, she also takes much pride in the extra activities the team is required to do. “It’s a lot of hard work and commitment,” she says. “We put in a lot of volunteer hours outside of our actual practice hours.” On average, the team does up to 30 hours of community work, on top of giving up their time to simply dance on the team.

“I don’t think people realize that they do it voluntarily,” says Stacey Stone, Blue Lightning head coach. “They don’t get paid for this. They all work and a lot of them are in school and have families. So it’s something that shows they go above and beyond.”

Blue Lightning held the first phase of its 2010 auditions this past weekend, with about 26 girls trying to dance their way onto the team. But good moves and pretty faces aren’t enough. The second portion involves a professional interview with a panel of judges. “We carefully screen our candidates,” says McAuliffe, “We don’t allow people on the team who we feel are going to push our reputation in a negative way.”

Back in January over 100 hopefuls auditioned and 22 were selected to become members of the new Mississippi Braves Diamond Dance Team. Here’s the squad photo with make-up and hair by Juan Johnson.

(click photo to enlarge)

Back Row: Brittany Jones, Emily Lawrence , Leanna Coleman, Katie Limbaugh, Tiara Hughes, Alisha Shirley, Kiara Garner, Diamond Vanderford, Coley Bush, Dwana McClure

Middle Row: Miya Warfield, Amber Kennon, Sarah Bushnell, Samatha Gregory, Leslie Guyton, Melissa Walker, Kalya Buie, Christy Chambers , Sharon Bennett

Bottom Row: Ashley Nowell, Jenny Tullos, Carrie Bishop

The Diamond Dancers will appear at over 70 games this season at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Not only do they perform on the field several times, they also assist with promotions throughout the game.

The squad is Mississippi’s first Pro Sports Dance Team and are under the direction of former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and Dallas Mavericks Dancer Maya Hayes.  Maya owns StarFire Productions, a Dance and Pro Sports Entertainment Company located in Texas.

Diamond Dancer Ashley is Miss Hinds and will compete in the Miss Mississippi Pageant this summer.

Ashley is a nursing student.

[Diamond Dancers]

By Katlynn Lanham
The Facts

Expressing her love of dance is what Ashley Robinson enjoyed most about being a cheeleader at Bay City High School and for the Houston Aeros hockey team.

That same love is behind Robinson’s desire to be a Houston Texans cheerleader. Though she didn’t make the top 29, Robinson still hopes she can live her dream of dancing at Reliant Stadium.

Robinson, 26, recently was announced as one of four women to compete in ABC 13’s fan favorite competition. People can vote for Robinson to receive one of the cheerleading spots more than 500 people competed to earn.

“Dance is an outlet for me,” Robinson said. “I tap into a side that I don’t show normally.”

Voting begins at 11:05 p.m. today and runs until midnight Thursday. The winner will be announced Friday and earn the final spot on the Texans’ cheerleading squad. To vote, go to abc13.com.

Robinson believes people should vote for her because of her big smile, bubbly personality, easy-going attitude and dancing experience, she said.

Robinson always has wanted to be a cheerleader, said her mother, Tanya Robinson.

“She seems so energetic when she’s out there,” Tanya Robinson said. “She’s just a dancer.”

Tanya Robinson said it’s her dream that her daughter succeed at something so important to her.

Ashley Robinson graduated from Bay City High School in 2002. Her grandmother, Annie Alexander, and aunt, Linda Alexander, live in Brazoria.

“We just need as many votes as we can get,” Linda Alexander said.

Robinson would dance only at Texans home games and maintain her job as a chemistry teacher at a Houston high school, she said.

“I love the Houston Texans and would love to cheer them on,” Robinson said.