The AFL’s New Orleans VooDoo have updated their website with gorgeous individual photos and profiles of this season’s dance team. Click here to learn all about the gang from The Big Easy.

Now THIS is what I call planning in advance.
This year’s Laker Girl auditions are scheduled for Saturday, July 21. Click here for details.

Tracy Kornet
CBS DFW
February 28, 2012

CARROLLTON (CBSDFW.COM) – She’s got the drive, the figure, and the discipline of a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. But does Sharon Simmons have what it takes to dance alongside some of the most visible women in the world? She’ll soon find out when the Carrollton resident auditions to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.

She’s also a grandmother of two.

“I’m 55. And in May around the competition, I’ll be 56,” explained Sharon Simmons. “On stage, I blend right in with women in their 20, 30s and up.”

Simmons was asked if she believes there is a physical difference between her body and those of the 19-year-olds trying out? “Absolutely no difference,” she declared.

Sharon Simmons is an author and national fitness competitor who embraces what she calls “defining moments.” She had one last December, when she used the Cowboys cheerleader uniform as inspiration for a fitness costume.

“I thought that’s something I never tried. I always wanted to try out. I got real close in my early 20′s but got busy raising my daughter. And I thought, why not now?”

So she contacted her choreographer, who suggested a dance studio, who recommended seeking Audrea Cowen [née Ulmer] for help–a former Cowboys cheerleader -now- dance instructor at Plano’s K.J. Dance Studio.

The two work weekly on routines and fundamentals, both in group and private lessons.

Simmons says her strength is in the competition itself. “I don’t get overly nervous. I’ll be find talking to the judges. I’m used to being on stage.”

But will that be enough to earn a spot among these high-kicking icons? Cowen says dancing is an entirely different ballgame.

“The flexibility required to be a cheerleader is greater than what she needs for fitness competition,” Audrea Cowen explained.

Sharon admits at 55, memorizing the fast-paced routines is tough. But she’s giving it her best shot, whether she makes it or not.

“I love life. I’m having a blast. I’m having a ball.”

Simmons has ten more weeks to rehearse. Auditions to be a 2012 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader happen May 5 and 6.

If you were a frequent visitor to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders website during the 2010-11 NFL season, you probably read all of Brooke Sorenson’s blogs about her upcoming wedding. Well, Brooke married her Prince Charming Laynce Nix (an outfielder for the Phillies) last November. The two got hitched in Bahamas and the wedding party included a whole gang of current and former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Stephanie Heymann, Kandi Harris, Kelsi Reich, Jordan Chanley, Tobie Percival, Tia Williams, Michelle Keys, and Crystal and Trisha Trevino.

The wedding photographer has posted a few photos from Brooke’s big day on her website. Click here to check it out!

Point Park Globe
February 21, 2012

Three Point Park University dance majors have earned a spot on the official dance team of Pittsburgh’s new arena football team, the Pittsburgh Power. As members of “The Sparks,” the girls will show off their moves at Pittsburgh Power home games, as well as at various promotional events in the area.

“It was a new thing coming out in Pittsburgh, and I wanted to be part of something new,” sophomore dance major Sam Elliot, a veteran Spark and co-captain going into her second season with the team, said about getting involved. “It involved dance, of course, which is my passion. After doing it, I learned it was so much fun. The fans are crazy.”

Sophomore dance major and veteran Spark Meghan Manning agreed. Last year, she learned about the team tryouts from her high school science teacher.

“The [minimum] age is 18, and I had just turned 18, so I felt like I had to try out,” she said.”After I auditioned, there was a second day of auditions, and I told my friends about it. When we made it, we decided to give it a try, and it was really fun.”

Rudy Hazen, a freshman dance major and Sparks rookie, was inspired to try out after attending a Pittsburgh Power game during her senior year of high school.

“I went to a game and it was so fun,” she said. “It’s a way to get a performance opportunity.”

The girls earned their spot on the team through multiple auditions. “There was a preliminary where we had to learn a hip hop combination and a jazz combination, then we had a regular audition where they made cuts,” Hazen said. “If you got through the preliminaries, then you had to do the finals.”

The final round was held at Mullen’s Bar in the North Side, and the girls performed in front of a panel of judges.

According to Manning, the auditions were “less scary than last year, because I have done it before. They were a lot of fun. I thought there was more talent this year, since more people knew about it.”

The team entertains the fans during Power games by dancing on both the sidelines and midfield. Their sideline routines, called “numbers and letters,” are performed with poms during each quarter of the game. Then, in between the quarters, the girls run out to midfield and perform a full dance routine, called a “quarter break.”

According to Elliot, the Power fans are what make the experience fun.

“It’s a lot different than regular football because it’s indoors and the fans are closer to you and they can interact more,” she said.

With a fairly large span of ages and backgrounds, the team members make time to get to know each other and bond.

“We just became a new team, so half of us are veterans and half of us are rookies,”Elliot said. “But we are definitely trying to make the team dynamic a lot closer than it was last year, because a lot of us didn’t know each other last year, with the different schools.”

The team has dinners together and, recently, took a bowling trip together.

“Since practice has started, we’re bonding more,” Hazen said.

As with any team, the Sparks have certain rules and standards guiding behavior.

“We have to be presentable at all times, even when we’re not in costume,” Hazen said.

The girls also are told to watch what they post online and to be friendly to everyone, even outside of the Power games. Elliot explained that the rules are in place “because people do recognize us and watch us and see us, and we don’t need a bad reputation.”

The Point Park girls light up the field at the first Pittsburgh Power home game of the season on March 23 at 8 p.m.

Technology strikes again!

It has come to our attention that there is a problem with our email accounts James[at]procheerleaderblog.com and sasha[at]procheerleaderblog.com. We are receiving some, but not all of the emails being sent to those addresses.

This has most likely been going on for a few weeks, and we’re just now putting two and two together. There appears to be no rhyme or reason as to which emails get through to us and which ones don’t. So if you’ve emailed us in the past few weeks and received no response, it’s probably because your email fell down the rabbit hole and we never received it. 🙁

We are getting ahold of Yahoo Business to troubleshoot the issue. However, in the meantime, if you need to reach either of us about something that is time-sensitive, please leave a comment for any post on this site. We have to approve all comments before they become public, so we will definitely see it. (And please note if it is a public comment, or a private question/comment for our eyes only.)

We are very sorry for any inconvenience/misscommunications this may have caused (as well as feelings of intense anger from being blown off by us!) We’re working to fix it ASAP.

Click here to check out some photos from this year’s auditions!

Check out my homegirl Tiffany and the rest of the Celtics crew on SportsIllustrated.com. Click here!

Stacy Keibler with George Clooney at last night’s Oscars. Keibler was Ravens Cheerleader in 1997.

KING5.com (February 21, 2012): Seattle Seahawks Sea Gal cheerleaders, Seattle Seahawk Roy Lewis and comedian Bryan Ricci visit Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and sailors aboard USS Makin Island.

Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and sailors get a visit from the Seattle Seahawks Sea Gal cheerleaders, comedian Bryan Ricci, and Seattle Seahawk Roy Lewis aboard USS Makin Island Feb. 13.

Helicopter mechanic and Kingston, Wash., native Cpl. Jack E. Dowers has lunch with Seattle Seahawks cheerleaders Stephanie, left, and Courtney during the Sea Gals’ visit aboard USS Makin Island here Feb. 13.

Seattle Seahawks Sea Gal cheerleaders, comedian Bryan Ricci, and Seattle Seahawk Roy Lewis arrive in a CH-53E Super Stallion to visit Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and sailors aboard USS Makin Island Feb. 13.

Seattle Seahawks cheerleader Heidi autographs a picture for 33-year-old optics technician Sgt. Felix A. Cervantes during the Sea Gals’ visit aboard USS Makin Island here Feb. 13. Cervantes, a Crown Point, Ind., native, serves with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.