Ultimate Cheerleaders

By Staff Sgt. Regina Machine, 13th PAD
Ft. Hood Sentinel
December 16, 2010

Hundreds of people, young and old, waited patiently Friday outside Palmer Theater to get a seat for the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders’ annual Christmas show.

The cheerleaders and gospel artist Pauline Taylor Hunt put together a stirring performance. The two-hour show included high-energy dance routines, songs, and a visit by Old Saint Nick.

This is the 11th year that the Arizona Cardinals show team has teamed with the Army Air Force Exchange to put on a performance. During its visit, members of the show team met with Soldiers from the Wounded Warrior Brigade, school children in classrooms at Duncan Elementary School and Smith Middle School, signed autographs at the Clear Creek Post Exchange, and worked with more than 90 children to rehearse for the Christmas show.

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Children who volunteered for the show worked hard on choreography to get an opportunity to appear on stage. Members of the show team worked with children in a cheer clinic, where the kids learned cheer routines for the performance. A record number of children participated in the clinic this year.

The mixed group of hopeful young male and female cheerleaders took the stage with style and grace. Each year, the Cardinals show teams work with a group of junior cheerleaders and mentor them as far as they want to go in the sport. Tayrn Loehr, a third-year member of the professional cheerleaders squad, was once a member of the junior cheer squad and now cheers in the big league.

“Being a professional cheerleader has absolutely changed my life. I like the performance side of it, but I also enjoy being a part of a team with talented and extremely wonderful women.

“I believe that surrounding yourself with talent makes you have talent,” Loehr said.

She also manages to juggle being a human resources coordinator with taking classes as a full-time student at Arizona State University.

Dionna White, a social worker and first-year member of the cheerleaders squad, said she became a cheerleader to perform.

“There is always no bigger audience than cheering for the NFL, and it’s always been my goal,” White said.

Heather Karberg, director of cheerleading for the Arizona Cardinals, said that scheduling for events like this is done months in advance. The show team recently returned from a trip overseas visiting deployed troops. The team gets opportunities to go to many different locations to boost morale and entertain the troops, she added.

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The Miami Heat website has the most extensive dance team gallery I’ve ever seen. They do a top notch job of promoting the dancers, with lots of photos and video of their performance. This is truly the most diverse and unique team in the league.

Flipping through the photo galleries, I am amazed by the sheer amount and variation of costumes. They’ve got feathers and sparkles and denim and leather and it’s like whoa. I bet you could put these women in trash bags and flip flops and they would still make it fierce.

Click here to see what I mean.
Prepare to spend a while.

This week Sports Illustrated has a super-sized gallery of NFL cheerleaders. The collection includes the Charger Girls, Texans Cheerleaders, 49ers Gold Rush, Cardinals Cheerleaders, and Cowboys Cheerleaders, along with a couple quick hits for the Vikings, Saints and Redskins. Click here to go there now!


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Texans Cheerleaders in full holiday regalia

Fans scream for cheer team
Terry Foster
The Detroit News
Dec 14, 2010

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The concession worker went about his business, traveling up and down the aisles peddling beer and soda.

He barely paid attention to the field as the Giants became the first road team to win at Ford Field without beating the Lions. Their 21-3 victory came against the “home team” Vikings at Ford Field.

It was historic in that Brett Favre’s streak of consecutive starts ended.

None of that mattered to the concession worker. But what did get his attention was when the announcer said, “Now introducing the Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders.”

The crowd stood and cheered louder than it had all night. And the concession worker put down his cooler filled with beers and turned around and faced the field.

“I gotta see this,” he said loudly. “I gotta check out the cheerleaders.”

He danced and sang and clapped loudly when the performance was over. So did everybody else.

This was the first time a professional cheer team graced Ford Field. And the crowd stood and cheered and sent a message to the Lions. This is what the people want, and their cheers were a message to the Lions to change their thinking.

People here want a cheer team and sometimes you need to listen to your audience. Lion fans have suffered with a bad product on the field, although I do believe this group of people will turn it around. Professional cheerleaders would enhance the product and make game day more fun.

What’s the harm?

Give the people what they want. The people have spoken.

So did the dancing concession worker.


The Detroit Pride Cheerleaders are ready to step in and do the job. Whattaya say, Lions?
~sasha
dpc

By Andrew Hanon, QMI Agency
Toronto Sun
December 15, 2010

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The usher at Rexall Place rolled her eyes and replied to my question with a wry grin, “I have to toe the line here, so yes, I think cheerleaders are a good idea.”

In a small way, the Edmonton Oilers made hockey history by becoming the first Canadian NHL team to have its own cheerleading squad. The Oilers Octane were introduced to the sold-out crowd at Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

While they roared their approval when the 19 women walked onto the ice during a first-period intermission, some hockey fans were puzzled by the concept.

“It’s wrong,” said Ryan Singh. “Cheerleading is for football. Our crowds are rowdy enough, we don’t need someone telling us when to cheer.”

nikkiHe’s not alone. An online petition, calling the idea of an Oilers cheer team demeaning to women and an affront to the game, gathered more than 1,500 signatures.

But cheer squads are already standard fare south of the border. Only one of the 24 American NHL teams doesn’t have one.

Videos on the Predators’ website show nubile women on special non-slip shoes on the ice in Nashville, while the Atlanta Thrashers’ site shows their cheer team practising skating moves.

“But teams in places like that probably need that just to draw people,” said Oiler fan Mike Simms.

His son Denon chimed in. “I don’t think they should be on the ice, but I like ’em!”
Oilers vice-president Allan Watt assured fans that Octane won’t perform while the game is on.

“They’ll be mostly in the entrances and exits,” he said. “They’ll be interacting with fans and doing some of their routines in the concourses.”

He added that a big part of their role will be as “ambassadors” for the team at events around Oil Country.

“They can also help us do any number of commercial and sponsorship functions that our partners unveil, and also any charity events that make sense for us at all.”

Octane member Nikki said she’s a huge Oilers fan, so getting to cheer for them is a dream come true.

The fourth-year psychology student at the University of Alberta said she heard about Octane when she logged onto the Oilers website in October to listen to a game and saw the call for applicants.

“It’s such an exciting thing to be part of,” she said. “We’ve been practising hard and now I’m looking forward to our debut.”

A lot of fans were looking forward to it, as well.

One guy, who didn’t want his name used, said Tuesday’s tilt was his first NHL game.

His buddy laughed and said, “He sent me a message: ‘We gotta get tickets. There’ll be cheerleaders!’ ”

Watt hopes all fans will keep an open mind about Octane.

“Hockey in Canada is generally a conservative place,” he said. “I certainly understand the interest and understand the hesitancy in some cases, but when we roll them out that’s the time to decide and have an opinion about them.”

To see more about the cheer team, go to www.oilersoctane.com

Sports Illustrated has a new set of NBA dance team photos. This week’s gallery features the dancers for the New Orleans Hornets in action on the court. Click here to go there now!

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Our friend Albert checks in from San Antone:

The San Antonio Roses cheered on the San Antonio Warriors’ football team in a charity game at Heroes Stadium on Dec. 5. Admission to the game was one unwrapped toy per person to go to the U.S. Marines’ Toys For Tots foundation. The Roses, who also showcased some new faces to the group, braved some pretty cold temperatures during the first half but still sizzled on the sideline in front of an impressive crowd and during halftime. The Warriors, of the Minor Professional Football League, lost to Texas United Football League’s Killeen Knights, 12-7. Still, the fans’ spirits were high thanks to these beautiful and talented women.

The Warriors and the cheerleaders begin their Minor Professional Football League season in the spring of 2011 with all games scheduled at this North East ISD football stadium.

For more photos of the game, click here.

For more photos from the Roses tryouts, click here.



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The Lady Heat Rays (from left): Carissa, Tisha, Diana, Amber-Kelley, Krystallyn, Kali, Crystal, Jennifer, Jackelyn, Lauren, Erika, Ashley

The Lady Heat Rays are a new independent professional cheer and dance team based in San Antonio, Texas. One of their most fun gigs is performing as the Goddesses dance team for the Stone Oak Gladiators.

The Gladiators have joined the South Texas Amateur Football League, and the Goddesses will be there to add excitement to the team’s home games. The STAF will begin their season in March 2011. In the mean time, Lady Heat Rays Directors Carissa Smith and Ashley Putney are keeping the team busy with performances and appearances in the community. They recently performed during a charity game between the Gladiators and another local team. The game raised funds for for the Pop Warner program.

“This was the first time that the Lady Heat Rays introduced cheerleader style stunting and cheering, to go along with their traditional dancing on the sidelines,” Carissa Smith said. “The girls looked great and we all had a blast.”

Some of the other events the Lady Heat Rays appeared at were the 117th Comal County Fair/Parade in New Braunfels, 37th Annual “Night In Ole Converse” parade in Converse, and the Alamo Heights Holiday Parade. The Gladiators will suit up against the Texas Mavericks on Saturday, Dec. 18 at Lil Cowboys Field. The Mavericks lost the STAF title game last year.

For more information on the Lady Heat Rays, visit www.ladyheatrays.com or e-mail ladyheatrays@gmail.com
Photos of them may be found at http://www.flair-and-finesse.smugmug.com


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