Jay Adams
Atlanta Falcons
June 24, 2012
Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader Kat M. finished fifth in the women’s trials in pole vault for the US track & field team Sunday night, barely missing out on making the team for the London Olympics in August.
Kat, who has only been pole vaulting for a handful of years after being discovered at Clemson, said last week that she wasn’t expecting all that much out of her performance in Eugene, Ore., for the trials, but apparently surprised even herself by missing first place by just less than eight inches and the Olympics by less than five. The top three finishers move on to Team USA to compete in the Olympics.
Kat’s highest vault was 14-feet, 5-and-1/4 inches.
After preliminaries were canceled due to weather, Kat and her competitors for the team all made it to finals. She alluded to possibly hanging up her cleats if she didn’t make Team USA this year, but tweeted the following after her vault Sunday night:
“5th place. Not half bad for 3.5 years of experience. Thank you everyone for your support. Cant quit now, can I!? #soclose #london2012″
Bill Byron
The Desert Sun
Jun. 23, 2012
There isn’t a whole lot of opportunity to become a great ice skater here in the desert.
Jasmine Roy, 19, of Palm Springs, is a member of the “Ice Girls,” the dance team for the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.
But that didn’t stop 2010 Palm Springs High School grad Jasmine Roy from becoming an Ice Girl for the L.A. Kings. And as luck would have it, she joined them in their first, and only, Stanley Cup season.
The 19-year old UC Riverside junior tried out for the Kings version of cheerleaders last summer and made the cut, despite stiff competition. But she’ll still be trying out again this weekend in an effort to keep her spot.
“I knew how to skate, I just didn’t know how to stop,” Roy says of her technique prior to becoming an Ice Girl. “When I was here (in the Coachella Valley), they didn’t have the ice rink. The first time I skated was in Riverside when I was about 10.”
She was in the minority of this season’s 15 Ice Girls, of which she says only she and two others needed some serious coaching in skates.
“You have to be very fast,” she says about the nine or 10 times a night that she ventures out onto the ice for two- to three-minutes cleaning up the snow created by Zambonis and entertaining fans.
“Sometimes the players say stuff to you and they don’t get out of your way, so that can be hard sometimes,” she said about the difficulties of the job. “But for the most part they’re great.”
Though Roy is still unsure if she’ll be getting a championship ring, the experience — with or without the jewelry — was well worth it, she says.
“I feel blessed to be a part of it — I’m like, ‘Wow, I was a part of them winning the Stanley Cup,’ to say I was part of the Ice Crew that year — I love it,” she said. “I got to stand with (the Cup) on the ice after the game and it was so much fun — we were shaking, people were crying.”
But despite having a year of experience under her belt, it’s no guarantee that she’ll get to be an Ice Girl again next season.
She has to try out just like everyone else this weekend.
“That’s what makes it so nerve-wracking, but at the same time, it’s fun,” the political science major says.
The current record for time on the Ice Crew is five seasons, according to Roy, but she’ll be happy if she can make it to two.
“I hope to make it, I plan to make it, I will be so happy if I do,” she said.
It won’t be long til the Sacramento Kings announce their 2012-13 dance team. In the meantime, they’ve got lots of fun photos from the first rounds of auditions. Click here for photos from the first round and click here for photos from final callbacks.
The “Soul Sisters” dance team perform during a hockey game between SKA Saint Petersburg and the Nizhny Torpedos in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. (Jan 2012)
What I learned: These chicks work HARD for their bangin’ bodies!
By Charlotte Andersen
Shape Magazine
June 2012
Giant grins to taut tummies: watching NFL cheerleaders on TV, it’s easy to think they’re naturally that svelte and perky. But as I learned when I got to be a Minnesota Vikings cheerleader (for two hours), those girls work hard to sculpt their bodies, and they work even harder to make it look so effortless!
When the squad first invited me to one of their training sessions, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Was it going to be an hour of splits and kick lines? (I’d have been down for that. I love kicking stuff!) Two hours of boot camp craziness? Or, heaven forbid, a replay of my intensely awkward high school years where I did everything I could to avoid cheerleaders? In the end, it was one of the most fun evenings I’ve ever had! Here’s what I learned:
Lesson 1: Look the part. I didn’t realize until my (short) stint as a cheerleader that I’ve been taking hair ties for granted. Do you know how hard it is to get down and sweaty with your hair in your face? Not only do the girls have to keep their hair loose, they’re also required to wear dance tights and Viking Red lipstick to every single workout. The goal is to get them used to working out “in uniform” so that when they add the pressure of game day, they’ll still be comfortable.
The strangest part: By the end of the workout, I was a sweaty mess with my hair glued to my forehead and mascara smudged across my face, but they all looked pristine. Steve Rosga, head trainer and program manager, explains that they train hard so that the girls can do it all and make it look easy. “They can’t show [the crowd] that they’re tired or that they’re working hard.”
Lesson 2: Pro cheerleaders are high-performance athletes. Kaylee, a four-year veteran and team captain, says, “A lot of people hear ‘cheerleader’ and think pageant girl or bimbo, but we are so different than that! This is the hardest workout I’ve ever done in my life. On game days we’re moving for three hours straight, dancing every break and trying to get the crowd involved.”
Lesson 3: Fit is strong, not skinny. “We want our girls to look like women,” says Tami Krause, head coach and coordinator. “For us, fitness is not about being skinny but about being strong, having stamina, staying injury free, and being energetic. You need muscles for that! People think cheerleaders don’t eat, but these girls can eat a horse! They just choose to eat the right things most of the time.”
Lesson 4: “A tight butt is a tight gut.” This is one of trainer Ryan Svenby’s favorite sayings. It emphasizes the underlying theory of the workouts: to build proper motion patterns, ingrain good form, and correct any muscular imbalances, in addition to getting stronger and faster. The core (which involves your whole trunk, not just the abs you can see in the mirror) is the center of every movement. “You have to stabilize before you can mobilize,” Rosga adds.
Ready to try their full workout? The Vikings cheerleaders gave me an inside look at the training plan they do two to three times a week, followed by one to two hours of dance rehearsals. Even if you don’t need to prep for the sidelines, Rosga and Svenby recommend a similar schedule of two or three days of strength training with an additional two or three cardio workouts.
Click here to give the MVC workout a shot.
Alex Koma
Collegiate Times
June 19, 2012
The NFL may be full of new sights and sounds for former Hokies that make the jump to the league, but one aspect is becoming increasingly familiar: the cheerleaders.
In fact, five Virginia Tech alumni are currently on the cheerleading squad for the Baltimore Ravens after cheering for the Hokies. Jane B., Amanda D., Abby E., Dana F., who asked to have their last names withheld for privacy purposes, and Jim Schwille all have spent the past several seasons with the team.
Jane, Amanda, Abby, and Dana
“It’s such a huge rush to run out on the field for a game, and it’s really similar to big games at Tech,” Jane said. “It’s great to all be together and share the same alma mater.”
The Ravens represent a particularly unique situation, as they are the only co-ed squad in the league, and Schwille welcomes the opportunity to continue his cheerleading career.
Jim Schwille
Schwille has worked with the Ravens for four years now, in addition to his slightly less glamorous position as a lumber salesman for United Forest Products. He began his cheerleading career during his years at Virginia Tech, and even served with Virginia’s National Guard in Afghanistan after graduating.
“At Tech, I had a couple friends who were cheerleaders, but I was a cadet at the time,” he said. “Eventually, it came down to whether I wanted to sit in the stands for every game or be on the field with the girls.”
His career with the Ravens began in 2008, but he hardly planned this move to the NFL.
“Jane was going to try out for the Ravens and asked me to come along and help her,” Schwille said. “Once we got there, I realized that I had the ability to make the team, and we ended up both making the squad.”
Jane agrees that their tryout was indeed serendipitous.
“We were cheering partners at school, so I asked Jim for help practicing, and we both made the team on our first try,” she said. “It was amazing, considering that it takes most people three or four attempts to make it.”
Schwille does hail from Maryland, but the transition to supporting the team was still an unusual one.
“Most of my family was from Pittsburgh, so I wasn’t exactly attached to the team,” he said. “But the fans are so passionate, it’s hard not be invested, especially when, if the team goes to the Super Bowl, I get to go with them.”
The presence of men like Schwille on the team has made the squad especially distinctive in its style.
“The guys are really the muscle behind it all,” Jane said. “They really allow us to be so much more acrobatic.”
The men are also an important part of the team’s camaraderie.
“They certainly help bring down the estrogen level a bit,” Amanda said. “They all bring a fun attitude to it that stops things from getting too insanely competitive.”
All of the team members believe that their time at Tech was essential for preparing them for the rigors of the Ravens.
“My time on the team at school really prepared me to interact with fans at a high level,” Abby said. “We did a lot of promotional events, which helped me learn how to be an ambassador for the community.”
Squad members also stressed the impact of the Hokies’ coaching staff on their development.
“Rickey Hill (Tech’s head cheerleading coach) taught us what it means to be a professional,” Amanda said. “He made the whole experience feel very real, and showed us that it was a lot more intense than you might think.”
While cheering for the Ravens may be quite the commitment, all of the Hokies on the team have day jobs as well, and credit Tech for helping to prepare them for the challenge of juggling their responsibilities.
“I’m also working on my master’s at Johns Hopkins and teaching kids with disabilities right now, but the experience of being a college athlete really prepared me for all this,” Abby said. “I’m used to this lifestyle of being busy, and since I might not be able to cheer a couple years down the road, I want to do it all while I can.”
Schwille’s job is also demanding, as it requires him to drive roughly 5,000 miles each month to meet with clients, but he’s found a way to balance his commitments.
“It’s been pretty simple to schedule my sales calls around practice,” he said. “I get to talk to people and help them solve problems all day, so I really love everything I do.”
No matter their obligations off the field, the allure of the NFL stage keeps them all coming back for more.
“It’s just incredible, I get goose bumps running out of the tunnel every time,” Amanda said. “It’s just so great being out there and helping everyone get psyched up for the game.”
By Maghan Hunt
Anderson Valley Post
June 20, 2012
Cottonwood dancer Megan Beeson is trying to once again make the Sacramento Kings dance team.
The auditions were earlier than they had been last year when Beeson made the dance team, because this season there wasn’t a National Basketball Association (NBA) lockout.
Megan and the other veterans have to re-audition every year,” explained Carol Kearney-Beeson, Megan’s mother. “She loved her first year with the Kings Dance Team, and wants to make the team again this year more than ever.”
After making the team last season, Beeson moved down to Sacramento and got a part time job to supplement her income along with the income she received from the Kings, said Kearney-Beeson. Adding her daughter has been doing excellent.
“She misses living in a small town, and is still getting used to city life. She has an apartment with another one of the dancers, who is also fighting for her spot on the team as well,” said Kearney-Beeson. “Last year they kept 21 girls for the online vote, and cut three. This year they only kept 18.”
According to Kearney-Beeson, the Kings have told the dancers auditioning that they want a team with between 15 to 18 girls.
This means that the dancers have no idea if they will be cut or if they will keep all 18.
“The only way to be safe is to be one of the top three that receive the most votes,” said Kearney-Beeson, who has been posting the link to the online voting for her daughter all over Facebook.
To vote for Beeson, go to http://www.nba.com/kings/2012-kings-dancers-finialists-splash
Click the “Like” button on Beeson’s picture to vote. Beeson is currently in 6th place with 1,212 votes. Voting ends Sunday, June 24 at midnight.
The Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders are in a box. A black box. I do not know why they are in a box, but they certainly did get creative with it. Check it out here or here.
By Jay Adams
Atlanta Falcons
June 19, 2012
Rookie Falcons cheerleader Kat M. will be spending her summer doing more than just learning choreography for the upcoming season. This week, she’ll be traveling to Eugene, Ore., to hopeful fulfill what has been a lifelong dream of hers.
Kat is participating in the USA Track and Field Olympic Team Trials this week at the University of Oregon and is hoping to earn a spot on Team USA for the Summer Games in London later this summer. A pole vaulter with just three years of experience in the event, Kat is one of the best in the country and primed to make a run at a Team USA spot.
“It has been a dream of mine to go to the Olympics since I was little, but I just never thought that my best chance at that would be in pole vault,” Kat said. “I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast since I started at age 4. It wasnt until I transfered to UGA and qualified for the NCAA National championships that I realized it was a possibility in track and field. I know that this week the odds of me finishing top three are slim since I am far less experienced than any other girl out there.”
The top three finishers in the event will get that coveted spot on the team for the London games, and Kat is currently ranked in the late teens. Not bad for just a handful of years experience.
Kat discovered pole vaulting when she was cheerleading at Clemson. When the Tigers scored during a game, Kat was doing back flips in the endzone. She caught the eye of the assistant track coach at the time and decided she looked relatively athletic and taller than most of the other cheerleaders.
Running into him one day, a conversation was struck about Kat’s background in gymnastics (she was a Level 10 gymnast by the age of 11) and the topic switched to pole vaulting. She came to the track for a tryout and the rest is what she hops to be Olympic history.
“It’s going to be one of the best experiences of my life and I just want to go out, do my best and hopefully make it to Finals,” Kat said. “As of now, I’m planning on hanging up the spikes after trials, but who knows? I might change my mind. There’s always Rio.”
Vikings.com: The 2012 Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders Swimsuit Calendar will be our best ever! Now we just need to decide which MVC should grace the cover…….so we are asking Vikings fans to help us with the selection process! We paired the TOP 8 finalists, selected during our audition process for the 2012 team, and fans have voted over the last month, with the four women below advancing to this final found of voting which runs June 20-29. This year’s version of the calendar will be unveiled during the week of July 4.
