Team Player
By Grant Martin
UAB Magazine
December 2011

For a time, Margaret Moseley lived a secret life. But after appearing in television commercials, movies, print ads, calendars and on the covers and pullout sections of several magazines —as well as spending the past four seasons as a cheerleader for the Atlanta Falcons—it’s safe to say her secret is out.

In truth, Moseley’s “secret life” lasted only a few hours. While still a senior at UAB [University of Alabama at Birmingham], she left town in the predawn hours of an April day in 2008 to try out for the Falcons cheerleading squad. Once she got through initial rounds, however, the secret became too much for her to carry. “When I made it through the first two cuts, I called my mom,” she says. “Of course, she was thrilled. Both my parents have been very supportive.”

Before leaving town that morning, Moseley wasn’t sure that would be the case. After spending the previous two years totally immersed in campus life at UAB, the marketing major and member of the UAB Golden Girls dance team was looking forward to the challenge of starting over in a new place, but her family wasn’t so certain. “My parents wanted me to wait for a year and figure out what I wanted to do,” Moseley says. “I was active in so many different things at UAB—marketing chair on the homecoming committee, chair of the school’s talent show, and captain of the Golden Girls, plus I worked part-time. My parents were worried about how I would adjust to moving out of state where I didn’t know anyone.”

They didn’t need to worry. Soon after moving to Atlanta, Moseley connected with the Xcel Talent Agency, which helped her land various modeling and dancing auditions. Today, she puts her business marketing degree to work as the talent director for Xcel, which represents actors, choreographers, and dancers who tour with artists such as Beyoncé, Usher, and Taylor Swift. “We’re a boutique agency that places dancers in many different kinds of productions,” Moseley says. “Some of them are on world tours with different performers or productions, and with the city booming in the entertainment industry, we are able to do a lot of work with commercials and movies filming in Atlanta.”

The Right Moves

Moseley says she didn’t follow the same track as many of the other professional dancers she works with, who focused on dance from an early age. “I was involved with a lot of different sports and activities,” she says. “I took gymnastics for years, and I was on the swim team and played soccer before I ever got into dance.”

That all changed when Moseley tried out and made the Golden Girls squad prior to her freshman year. “My best friend taught me the basic turns and things I would need to know to try out, and I really enjoyed it.”

The Golden Girls start each year with strenuous summer boot camps to prepare for the football and basketball seasons. “The role of the squad is very different for football and basketball,” Moseley says. “In football, we’re more like cheerleaders: We dance when music comes on. Basketball brings a different kind of pressure, because we have to constantly learn new routines in different genres.”

The Show

In her role with the Falcons, Moseley says she had to take all of her UAB experience and magnify it to a much larger scale. “The average sports fan doesn’t realize the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes,” Moseley says. “Ideally, a strict schedule is set around the game—the music, dancers, videos, promotions—and it will all seem to run naturally. There are so many people involved, and we all work hard to make things flow. We do huge halftime and pregame routines, but we also have to keep an eye on the game at all times. Everything we do has to coordinate with what is happening on the field.”

Beyond her duties at Falcons home games, Moseley practices with the cheerleading squad two days a week and keeps up her own individual workouts throughout the week. Additionally, she is often asked to appear at corporate and charity events throughout Georgia. “We’re required to do at least 20 charity events. We typically exceed the obligation. One of my favorites is our Falcons Fitness events, which is an effort to teach kids proper ways to work out, eat right and how to avoid injuries.”

And although there is a no-fraternization rule between cheerleaders and players, Moseley does have a connection to one Falcon—receiver and fellow UAB alumnus Roddy White. “He graduated right before I got to UAB, but we had a lot of the same friends, so I was acquainted with him while I was in school,” she says. “It has been exciting to see him succeed like he has and for both of us to have that UAB connection.”

Step by Step

Although Xcel helped place Moseley in some auditions as a dancer early on, she says she quickly realized that her comfort zone was not on stage. Instead, she opted for modeling jobs that eventually led to a Reebok ad for Dick’s Sporting Goods stores nationwide. She also has appeared in the past two Falcons cheerleader swimsuit calendars, is one of the Top NFL Cheerleaders in 2011, according to the Web site Bleacher Report, and was chosen out of all NFL cheerleaders as this year’s cover of Sideline Distraction magazine.

Moseley also hosts several television shows in Atlanta. “I thoroughly enjoy just being me on camera,” she says. “Whether its interviewing celebrities on the red carpet or outside charity fundraisers I get to connect the community with what’s happening. Interviewing Sugar Ray Leonard has been my favorite moment so far; we danced and boxed, and I found out my hands are bigger than his!”

“My job really has worked out faultlessly for me in that I get to work on the business side with so many talented dancers and performers who inspire me, but also stay informed on opportunities that might be a good fit for me,” she says.

Like White, Moseley says her experience at UAB helped prepare her for life in the NFL limelight. “It was at UAB that I learned how much I loved dancing, performing, and being part of a team,” she says. “That was what motivated me to take a chance and try out. Even though I didn’t have the professional training or dancing background that some of the other girls did, I realized I wanted to keep learning and dancing and see where it could take me.”

GeorgiaForce.com
December 5th, 2011

Front Row (Left to Right): Joslynn, Jaimi, Chelsea, Adonica, Loren, Brianna
Middle Row: Bridget, LaToya, Christen, Macy, Dana, Tiffany, Maima
Back Row: Serita, Britney, Kiley, Emily, Cara, Lauren, Hanna

34 Finalists competed in the ultimate dance battle on Friday December 2nd at The Gold Room Atlanta. Surrounded by family, friends and hundreds of other spectators, these beautiful and talented ladies danced their hearts out in front of 7 judges who would ultimately decide their fate.

Earlier in the week, these Finalists discussed their personal and professional qualifications with director Joie Ashworth and Force Executive Andy Haskell. Collectively, there was an abundance of advanced degrees obtained, high power careers, and community service hours donated by these ladies. They were also subjected to a strenuous endurance and fitness evaluation before learning the final routine the night before the Final Audition Show.

As a finishing touch and to give themselves the best shot at making the team, the Finalists created and bedazzled flattering audition costumes that would make them look like a star under the Gold Room spotlights. Palm Beach Tan came through for them by providing complimentary tanning services and stylists from Siggers Hairdressers of Tucker, GA were on hand providing complimentary hair services.

The Finalists performed a group pom routine to a selection of popular music mixes and then performed the final audition piece in groups of two. Judges deliberated, scores were tabulated and interview and boot camp scores were added in. For Director Joie Ashworth, this was an especially tough process. “Throughout Finalist Week, I’ve really gotten to know these young ladies during interviews and discovered how wonderful they all are. Some of them are teachers, medical professionals and we even had an attorney in the mix! I’ve watched them separate themselves from the physical pain of the fitness evaluation as they toughed it out like the athletes that they are. But I have to make a decision. I have to break some hearts and change some lives.”

And then, the time had finally come. It was time to announce the 2012 team. 14 veterans and 6 rookies were called to the front and introduced to the world as the 2012 Georgia Force Cheerleaders!

Melissa Rycroft, Jennie Garth land CMT reality shows
by James Hibberd
Entertainment Weekly
December 14, 2011

Melissa Rycroft and Jennie Garth are both getting reality shows on CMT (not together though!). Projects starring the former Bachelorette and the Beverly Hills, 90210 star were just giving series orders by the network.

Rycroft will star with her husband Tye Strickland in Melissa and Tye: A New Reality (working title), which follows Rycroft moving to Los Angeles to pursue her Hollywood career while managing a long-distance relationship with her husband.

Garth, who is married with three kids, is taking the opposite route: She’s moving with her family from Los Angeles to a seven-acre farm in Central California. The title: I Love Jennie (cute).

Both shows received eight-episode orders and will premiere in April. Rycroft’s show is produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions, with Seacrest, Jayson Dinsmore and Eliot Goldberg. The Garth show is executive produced by Ben Silverman, Jimmy Fox, Rick Ringbakk, Craig Armstrong, Garth, Peter Facinelli, Rob de Franco, Dinsmore and Goldberg.

Click here to view the latest Ice Girl gallery on SportsIllustrated.com.

The Celtics website has been updated with individual profiles and lots of uniform shots of this season’s Celtics Dancers. Click here to check it out!

The Patriots Cheerleaders are joining the ranks of other NFL teams that have discovered that their dance teams are spread a little too thin to accommodate the number of appearances requested.

Like the Buffalo Jills, Chiefs Cheerleaders, Ravens Cheerleaders, and Redskins Cheerleaders, the Pats have decided to bring on a group of ambassadors/promo models to take on some of the non-dancing responsibilities. Members of the Patriots Cheerleaders Promotional Model Squad will appear at every home game, and will be included in the team photo and swimsuit calendar. Applications must be postmarked by Monday, February 20.

And for those who can dance, the Pats 2012 open call audition is scheduled for Saturday, March 3. An optional pre-audition workshop will be offered on Saturday, January 28, 2012.

Click here for promo model and audition details.

Individual uniform photos and profiles of the New York Knicks dance team are now online. Click here to learn more about the team.

Sister Act
By Deborah Lew – LAKings.com Staff Writer
Los Angeles Kings
12.13.2011

The odds of a hockey player getting drafted by an NHL team is greater than the chances of an audition hopeful earning a spot on a promotional team of one of the League’s 30 clubs, given that only roughly half of the teams employ entertainment crews.

That said…what are the chances that a pair of sisters would make the same squad together?

Don’t ask LA Kings Ice Crew Members Taylor and Emma, sisters, who clearly gave no consideration to the slim probability that they would both be named part of the Crew when they showed up to auditions last July.

“The thought process behind choosing Taylor and Emma for this year’s team was not much different than the thought process behind choosing any of the other Ice Crew members,” says Brooklyn Boyars, the Kings’ Senior Manager of Game Presentation and Events. “They both have very distinct personalities and different strengths and weaknesses, so evaluating them both as individuals was quite easy.”

Taylor, two years Emma’s senior, almost to the day, is more reserved and subdued than her sister.

“I would rather go watch a movie and Taylor would rather stay in on a Friday night and read,” says Emma who is the self-proclaimed “wild child.”

While Taylor graduated from CSU Channel Islands this past May with an undergraduate degree in Institutional Sociology and a minor in Political Science, she has put furthering her education on hold in order to focus on her new job with the Kings Ice Crew.

“I would really like to be a nurse, so I am actually starting school again this spring, working towards my RN, and in the long run finishing with a BS in Nursing,” says Taylor, who admits she is more of a “book worm” than her sister.

Emma currently attends College of the Canyons and is contemplating majoring in business or sports medicine — possibly both.

“We both are very caring and passionate about what we do, whether it’s sports or school,” Taylor concedes.

The sisters, who have no other siblings, grew up around sports and both played soccer. Taylor played roller hockey as a kid and now plays ice hockey in a Tuesday-night pickup league, where she and her father are helping to show Emma the ropes.

Although Emma is just now learning to play hockey, she is no newbie when it comes to the sport.

“I am a Kings fanatic. My family has loved the Kings as long as I can remember,” Emma states.

Taylor recalls a similar experience: “I grew up watching the games with my dad as a huge Luc Robitaille fan,” she says.

Both girls currently live at home with their parents, which is something new for Taylor, who moved back last August after being away the last three years for school and work.

“When Taylor was away, Emma had the run of the place. There’s been a period of adjustment, but actually, it’s been great because I think that they’ve both learned to be more tolerant of each other and of others by being under the same roof,” says Don, the girls’ father who recently retired after more than 30 years as a firefighter.

Coming from a close-knit family that travels together often is something that both girls are grateful for, and they often have the support of their parents in the stands during Kings home games.

“The fact that they can enjoy this as a family and that they’re well-supported just makes the experience that much more valuable to them, which in turn, enhances the effort and commitment they put into the Ice Crew team and the Kings organization as a whole,” says Boyars, currently in her fourth season managing the Ice Crew.

Regardless of whether they believed they could make the team together or not, Taylor and Emma are making the most of an experience they know is special, and not just by carpooling.

“This experience is amazing and I am even more blessed to have my sister by my side. She is my rock when I need to be held down and my strength when I need to be lifted up. It couldn’t be better,” says Emma, whose favorite part about the Ice Crew is that proceeds from all their efforts go to the Kings Care Foundation.

“We don’t always work the same events, so we come home and chat about our days, and in some ways if she weren’t on the team with me, those would be way different conversations,” admits Taylor, who particularly enjoys the team aspect of the Ice Crew.

“It’s been a great experience for them,” says mom Karen, a nurse. “It’s been a great growing experience and I think the organization is great and they’re enjoying themselves.”

So is there ever any feuding between the girls who occupy the month of November in the newest LA Kings Ice Crew Swimsuit Calendar?

“She takes my stuff,” Emma blurts out with no hesitation, which causes both girls to erupt in laughter.

“That’s mine!” Emma shrieks, pointing to the belly button ring that Taylor had chosen to compliment her Ice Crew uniform.

It’s good to know that although their sisterhood has been thrown into a whirlwind of rare opportunity, there is still some sense of normalcy.

Leading the cheers: Teacher to travel to Asia for performance
By Sylvia Decker
The River Bend Telegraph
December 13, 2011

Former area resident Megan LaTempt, a captain with the Rams cheerleaders, is excited about the group’s journey next month to Hong Kong to perform for the “Year of the Ram.”

LaTempt, who has been a Rams cheerleader since 2009, said she has the opportunity to meet a variety of people as a Rams dancer.

“We are required to do 25 charity events in St. Louis,” LaTempt said. “We had the opportunity to travel to the Hall of Fame game in Ohio, performed at charity events and were asked to perform in January in Hong Kong at the 2012 Celebration of the Year of the Ram.”

LaTempt, a 2003 graduate of Jersey Community High School in Jerseyville, is a special education teacher for the Rockwood School District. She received her degree from Southeast Missouri State University. One event that the cheerleaders performed was for Down syndrome, which was a favorite of the teacher of children with special needs.

“We light up the world,” she said.

Her days are long, with her teaching routine beginning at 7 a.m. On her days of practicing with the other cheerleaders, workout does not end until 10 p.m. Game day is challenging as well.

“The Rams is more of a dance organization,” LaTempt said. “We basically dance on the sidelines for four quarters. It is a workout on game day. We get there at 7:30 for the noon game. We are going over routines, and for a half hour we are signing autographs.”

She said the first time she saw the Rams cheerleaders was when she was a dancer at the Hawaii Pro Bowl.

“I auditioned in St. Louis when I was in high school and was selected to travel to Hawaii and be a part of the half-time production. At the Pro Bowl they had two [sic] cheerleaders from each NFL team represented, and at the moment (I was 14 years old) I told myself that one day I wanted to be an NFL cheerleader.”

LaTempt said she was introduced to dance at Parish School of the Performing Arts in Jerseyville.

“I’ve been dancing since I was 8 years old. I was a Southeast Sundancer for three years. I was not ready to give up dance.”

Always athletic, LaTempt said she broke a record in track at her high school. She said in track she was doing hurdles and in dance she is doing leaps and jumps. As a Rams cheerleader captain, she leads a group of cheerleaders, making calls from the sidelines. There are four different groups, one in each corner of the stadium, each with a captain.

“It’s the best experience of my life. The last home game is in January, New Year’s Day.”

The daughter of Bob and Becky LaTempt of Godfrey, she said her parents have season tickets and are faithful fans.

LaTempt, who is accustomed to being a leader, said she supervises seven teachers in her role as an educator. She will be taking an even bigger step in August when she marries Dustin Kueker, a teacher in the Ste. Genevieve School District. The couple will wed Aug. 4 in Alton.

“He is amazing, so supportive with me.”

LaTempt said she feels like she has three jobs. She is used to being busy.

“It’s like I have three full-time jobs: teacher, the Rams and making wedding plans,” she said. “I feel like I’ve done all three successfully. I can’t wait for Aug. 4.”

Read more: http://www.thetelegraph.com/articles/latempt-63244-rams-cheerleaders.html#ixzz1gWe4Wfmj