By Cheryl A. MacDonald/Wicked Local Norwood Columnist
Norwood Transcript and Bulletin
May 16, 2011
NORWOOD —
It’s been a dream come true for 20-year-old college student Amber Smith.
On April 16 when the New England Patriots announced the newest members of its cheerleading squad, Smith was on the list.
“Being a part of the three-time Super Bowl Champions and the entire Patriots organization really does mean a lot to me,” she said. “I feel like it is going to be a really good experience for me.”
Smith, who is one of seven children, is now part of the 31-member squad. She beat out hundreds of candidates, including veteran cheerleaders.
“All squad positions were open as even veteran cheerleaders have to re-audition for a position on the squad each year,” said Christy Berkery, media relations coordinator for the New England Patriots. “Patriots Cheerleaders can cheer a maximum of three seasons, but again, they are required to audition for their position each year.”
The newest Norwood addition to the Patriots cheerleading squad has danced for years. Smith first started cheerleading when she was in the fifth grade. She was on the high school cheerleading squad all four years and served as team captain her senior year. Smith graduated in 2009.
Her years of dancing and cheerleading have paid off her.
“Amber is a talented dancer and entertaining performer who is also beautiful and physically fit,” said Tracy Sormanti, New England Patriots Cheerleading Coach. “She’ll be exciting to watch on the sidelines of Gillette Stadium and will be a great representative of the Patriots organization at the personal appearances she makes in the community.”
The Road to Professional Cheerleading
It wasn’t too long ago that Smith came across information online that would bring her a step closer to becoming a Patriot’s Cheerleader.
For Smith, the first part of the process included a one-day cheerleading audition workshop at Gillette Stadium on Feb. 26. Three weeks later on the morning of March 19, Smith joined the assembly of hopefuls – all 300 plus – for the preliminary auditions. She said that she felt confident.
Preliminary Audition
March 19 was an early morning for Smith. Although registration was at 10 a.m. that morning, she woke up at 6 a.m. and was in line to register by 9 a.m. she said.
Armed with her registration number, 152, she was ready for the day that lay ahead of her. As part of the auditions she had to do two dance routines. The girls first learned the steps and then performed in front of a panel of judges. Then came the first cut.
Smith made the cut and moved on to the next phase where she was grouped with two others. Now it was onto freestyle. This segment gave the dancers a chance to showcase their own style.
Smith said she felt right at home, the song “Dynamite,” by Taio Cruz was playing in the background and was the same tune that she learned the choreography to at the workshop.
She said it was a long day, nearly 12 hours, before she left the stadium for home. But, she said, it was worth it.
Smith made the cut and was moved onto the next step: the personal interview.
The interview
It was here that Smith had the chance to share with her potential coach and the judges about herself. In addition to going to college, she works part time too. Her interests are dancing, shopping and hanging out with her friends.
She had the opportunity to give them a better glimpse into the type of person she is Smith said. It went well.
“The judges enjoyed meeting with her during her personal interview and found her sincere and intelligent with a fun sense of humor,” Sormanti said.
Final Audition
Two weeks later on April 2, the final auditions began. That was pretty intense Smith said. This time there was a swimsuit category, but it was a quick process she added.
Then she changed into her audition outfit; the one she put her own personal touch on with rhinestones. She was ready to meet the panel of judges; to dance and to show her poise, presence, physique and confidence.
Once again Smith and the others performed the routines and freestyle from the preliminary round. This time however the freestyle was a solo routine.
There was another shorter interview she said. Then there was a long wait to find out who would be continuing onto the next step; four intense practices during the following two weeks.
Smith made the cut again. She was selected to take part in four intensive practices during the upcoming two weeks before the final elimination would take place on April 16, the last day of the training.
It was the end of the last day of training and Smith was ready to learn her fate. But the group was sent home and asked to wait for an email. That is just what Smith did.
A few days later she got the word that she was on squad of the 2011 New England Patriots Cheerleaders. Smith is looking forward to her new role and all that goes along with it, she said.
KDAF has tons of photos from yesterdays’ auditions. Warning: there are TONS of duplicates. TONS.
The Dallas Observer (5/16/2011): The most recognized cheerleaders in the league are for America’s Team, so the question is: did they have what it takes to cheer for the Cowboys? On May 15th at Cowboys Stadium, the nationwide search began for the new 2011 squad. They began with “freestyle” dance moves, participating in groups. Judges selected the best for call-backs, and the best ones moved to a semi-final / personal interview round.
ALL PHOTOS BY ERIC GARCIA AND DUSTIN SCHNEIDER
The Saberkittens are back from 2011, and this time, they’re golden. Literally!
Click here to learn more about the ladies on the team.
Lori Kurtzman
Cincinnati Enquirer
May 15, 2011
They wanted to make the squad. No doubt that was foremost in their mind. But it seemed Ben-Gals hopefuls were thinking about something else during final cheerleading tryouts Sunday.
Junk food.
A lot of strict exercise, dance practice and dieting will do that to a person. One woman said she’d be eating cheesecake after her audition. Another said she was going straight for a cheeseburger.
“I’m going to a buffet and getting one of everything,” said Lacey Carter, an Alexandria woman hoping to make the 2011 squad.
But that would come later. First there was dancing and strutting around in a bathing suit to be done. There was makeup to apply and hair to curl.
Sixty-four women, each one looking like the queen of the prom, tried out to be Ben-Gals during Sunday’s tryouts. They put on tiny outfits and showed off killer abs onstage at the Syndicate in Newport. The audience hollered and cheered, hundreds of friends and family members hoping their girl would clinch one of the 30 spots.
“I’m the one that’s more nervous,” said Sharon Caliguri, a Colerain Township woman clutching a pink sign with a picture of her daughter, Angela. This was Angela’s second year trying out, her mom said. “She’s ready.”
Also ready? Courtney Nitz of Highland Heights, waiting in a back room for her chance to perform. Nitz, a member of the 2010 squad, was in the awkward position of having to audition for a role she’s already had – only the two team captains were guaranteed a return in 2011.
“The dance is very hard,” Nitz said, and then she hit the stage and nailed the choreographed number everyone performed to Beyonce’s “Move Your Body,” a song that does in fact get old after the 10th listen.
A panel of judges rated the women Sunday, but Carter, Caliguri and Nitz will have to wait to see whether they’ll be NFL cheerleaders in 2011. Director Charlotte Jacobs said the roster will be posted online by Thursday.
That leaves plenty of time for a cheeseburger.
Dancers from all over the country audition to be a part of next season’s Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Squad.
Amber Fisher
The 33 News
May 15, 2011
For some, trying out to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader was a spontaneous decision.
“It started out as just a random, you’re turning 25, do something exciting, to now coming out here and completely wanting this more than anything,” said dancer Megan Gabardi.
For others, like Brittany Schram, it’s been a lifelong dream.
“Since birth,” Schram said. “I think when you’re born in Dallas, you come out of the womb as a Cowboys fan.”
Sunday’s auditions were Schram’s second time tryout out. Last year, she made it all the way through training camp.
“I feel a lot better this time,” she said. “I’m more prepared. I know what’s in store.”
Schram went up against about 300 other hopefuls, some traveled great distances to audition.
“I’m from Illinios, but I just moved to Lewisville to tryout for the cheerleaders,” said dancer Natalie Watson. “They’re role models to me, and I grew up watching them and everything the cheerleaders stood for.”
Each dancer had about a minute to perform a freestyle dance for a panel of judges.
They were scored on their dance ability, personality and appearance.
“It’s nerve-racking,” Schram said. “You’re out there, and you think you’re doing your thing, and you look over and you see Kelly and Judy sort of lean over and whisper and see them look up and down and you think, maybe I’m not doing so well. But you only hope that they’re saying good things.”
“I’m just excited to be here,” Watson said. “If I make it or not. The experience is something you’ll have for a lifetime.”
After auditioning, Schram said she was confident in her performance.
“I feel like I did really well,” she said. “Of course, I wish I could go out there and do it again and again, but I think that I did really well. So, hopefully, second time’s a charm for me.”
So, from what I gather from the photos on the Jets website, Jets Flight Crew Director Denise Garvey has chosen her squad and is now in the process of deciding which members of the team will participate in the team’s annual swimsuit calendar shoot. I guess we’ll have to wait to find out who made the cut! Click here to see photos from the casting.
Click here and here for photos on Metromix Tampa Bay.
Click here for photos from last weekend’s final auditions for the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders.
ROBERT MacLEOD
The Globe and Mail
May 10, 2011
As the students gazed upon Casey N. decked out in her Toronto Argonauts cheerleader uniform, it was hard for them to comprehend that she had been a victim of bullying.
But she had, in Grade 9 in Winnipeg.
During a class, her fellow students started giggling after the textbooks had been passed out. “I didn’t know what was going on,” Casey recalled of that moment when she was 15. “I can hear my name being whispered back and forth. I open my textbook and in my textbook on the inside cover it says, ‘Casey is a big fat slut.’
“I look at the person sitting next to me, there’s something really awful written about me in their book, too, and the person in front of me and the person behind me.”
Every text book in the class had something untoward written about Casey in permanent marker so that it could not be adequately covered up.
It was something she had to relive for the rest of the school year each and every time she had that class and the textbooks were distributed.
“Back then, I didn’t have Facebook,” Casey said. “But to me, that was the equivalent of Facebook. Instantly, 36 people saw something really horrible written about me and they talked about it.”
Casey, now 26, is the newest ambassador in the Argos’ efforts to combat bullying in schools.
For 10 years the CFL team has operated its Huddle Up bullying prevention program that started with players being sent to schools in the Greater Toronto Area to speak out against bullying.
Over the next week, the football team will be staging its fifth annual Huddle Up Student summits that will bring together student leaders from the GTA to share ideas that helped keep their schools safe from bullying behaviour.
The campaign, the only one of its kind in Canada involving a professional sports team, was spearheaded by Jason Colero, who is the Argos manager of community relations.
While a Grade 9 student in Toronto, Colero was constantly picked on and ostracized by many of the other students because of his small stature.
He said it nearly drove him to suicide.
Over the past two years, when it became apparent that bullying affects girls as much as boys, the Argos sensed their cheerleaders could do more than just shake their pom-poms.
The women – who do not want their last names published over safety concerns because of the public nature of their cheerleading jobs – are now a significant component of the Huddle Up campaign, regularly speaking to groups of girls in high school and elementary settings about bullying.
Both the Argos cheerleaders and the players are trained by the Canadian Safe School Network (CSSN) on how to properly counsel the students they speak to about bullying.
“Usually cheerleaders are only used as an accessory to an event where the players are the focus,” said Beth Waldman, an Argos spokesperson. “We’re the first CFL team to use our cheerleaders as actual mentors in a community outreach program.”
The main message they deliver is that the first step to stop the spread of bullying is to tell a person in authority – a teacher, a parent or a police officer – that they are being harassed.
That is not always the easiest choice if the person is being picked on because he or she is overweight, a loner or is struggling with grades.
Judging by the reaction of the contingent Casey recently spoke to at Harold M. Brathwaite Secondary School here, the endeavour is proving worthwhile.
“It was powerful,” Chantaine Green-Leach, a Grade 12 student at the school, said after the presentation. “I couldn’t even eat. It’s great to know that there are successful people out there with stories like this who we can relate to.”
Brigitte G., another of the Argos cheerleaders who is involved in Huddle Up, said the girls she speaks to view them as a role models.
“During one presentation one of the girls stood up and proclaimed that these other girls had been basically bullying the entire school,” she said. “She told us she wasn’t going to let it happen any more. That was very empowering for me.”
Studies in Canada have estimated that as many as one in five school-aged children have been bullied.
Stuart Auty, president of the CSSN, said a recent school board survey of 8,000 students in Winnipeg revealed that 50 per cent of respondents reported being bullied.
Auty said 9 per cent of those students said the problem was so bad they were fearful of going to school.
While both girls and boys will resort to physical violence when bullying, girls will often add a more covert psychological twist.
They utilize social networking websites such as Facebook or MSN to post derogatory comments about other students that quickly spread throughout the school community.
That form of bullying is commonly referred to as cyber-bullying.
“Now you’ve got bullies who’ve got weapons and more and more of them are girls,” Auty said. “The girls are significantly active in this whole Internet realm.”
