The Ravens Cheerleaders have a new team photo. Click the image below to view full size!
MIAMI (CBS4) ― Okay ladies, the start of game days is just around the corner so it’s time to say ‘goodbye’ to boxy jerseys and say ‘hello’ to hot new halters and bikinis.
Don’t know what I mean? Then check out the sexy apparel and swim wear from “Miss Fanatic” designed for the female sports fan.
Former Miami Dolphins cheerleader Tiffany Pearl spent four years on the squad while earning her degree in fashion. This week the current Dolphins cheerleaders unveiled their 2011-2012 calendar at Liv on Miami Beach, and it was one of Pearl’s swimsuits that graced the cover.
“It’s really cool to see two of your suits published,” Pearl told CBS4’s Lisa Petrillo, “and actually start to get your name out there.”
Pearl added that the idea to create the line came from her own experiences in attending games.
“Being an ultimate sports fan it was hard for me to find things that were flattering to a woman’s frame,” said Pearl. “I wanted something that made me feel like a woman. I wanted to make cute tops and bikinis so no matter where you are, at the beach or at the game, you could be proud of them.”
Pearl’s line is made in Miami, and in the future she hopes to expand her sexy sports fashions to all of the NFL and college teams.
“Miss Fanatic” bikinis are sold separately, $20 each for the tops and bottoms, and form-fitting jerseys run about $80.
“We have jerseys that are nicely fit to a woman’s body, the skirts look like what the players wear on the field, just a lot sexier,” said Pearl.
Click Here To Check Out The Miss Fanatic Line
The 25-year-old entrepreneur says these days she’s cheering about her up and coming career.
“I couldn’t be happier. It’s the best of both worlds, I love fashion and I love sports, to be able to combine the two, I couldn’t be happier,” said Pearl.
Nearly a dozen colleges are represented in the current “Miss Fanatic” line, including the University of Miami and the University of Florida. Pearl says she has plans to keep the ball rolling to more universities around the country.
Cincinnati.com: Cincinnati Ben-gals cheerleaders performed for the fans as the Bengals took on the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFL preseason game at Paul Brown stadium Friday night. Click here to view the photos.
By Lori Preuitt
NBC Bay Area
Aug 22, 2010
While Raider -nation gets ready to watch the big boys play for real on the field, the gals on the sidelines gave a little taste of the NFL season ahead in Oakland this week.
The Raiderettes performed at Oakland’s Fox Theater Thursday night. See photos here.
A $25 ticket got folks in the door so they could be the first to see this year’s Raiderette calendar.
Bay Area, Raiderette spokeswoman Vandana Patel told Bay City News the sqaud is “one of the two most prestigious cheerleading teams in the NFL.” Adding their exposure continues to grow each year.
You could also pose with the ladies of the silver and black and yes they will be performing on stage.
This year’s calendar features all 34 members of the squad who posed in beach and tropic scenes for the publication that is sure to be very popular among Raider fans.
Oakland Raiders: Check out the photo gallery from the 2011 Raiderette Swimsuit Calendar Release Party which was held at the FOX Theater in downtown Oakland. Click here to view photos and click here for video from the evening.
By Chris R. Vaccaro
< "http://sachem.patch.com/articles/former-new-jersey-nets-dancer-taylor-walker-starts-teaching-career-at-sachem-this-fall">Sachem Patch
August 21, 2010
With the approval of Taylor Walker as a physical education teacher at Sachem High School North this week, not since, well, ever has the Sachem Central School District landed such a high profile faculty member.
A professional dancer, dance educator, free-lance broadcaster and physical fitness fanatic, Walker, 25, comes to Sachem this fall for her first high school teaching gig.
She grew up in Dix Hills, attended Half Hollow Hills West High School and recalls the days when her Colts dance team matched up against Sachem’s girls at competitions.
“We were a much smaller school and to see a team of that caliber every year be so strong with so many girls was neat,” she said. “They’re very into their community and their program and it’s a lot like a family.”
With the hire, Sachem gains an individual with a multi-faceted core, one with the development of growing up the child of a professional athlete. Her father, Wesley Walker, is a former two-time Pro Bowl receiver for the New York Jets, who ranks sixth all-time in franchise history in receptions.
Then there’s her brothers: Austin is a professional lacrosse player for the Toronto Nationals, who won a national title at Johns Hopkins, and John, a three-time All-American at Army, is an assistant lacrosse coach at the University of Virginia.
“We’ve all given 100 percent and followed through on what we love,” said Walker, who is trained in ballet, jazz, modern and hip-hop dance. “I don’t think we ever compared ourselves as much as we supported each other.”
It’s only natural that Taylor followed the athletic footprint of the Walker family and embarked on her own career in the fitness world. For two seasons she was a member of the New Jersey Nets dance team and was a co-captain for half a season before giving up the role to concentrate on earning her Master’s Degree in physical education from Hofstra University, where she is an assistant coach on the school’s dance team.
“It was a wonderful experience and the girls on the team were so talented,” she said. “I had such a great time.”
She was one of 10 dancers from the NBA selected to pose for Sports Illustrated’s coveted Swimsuit Edition in 2009. Her good fortune struck again when she was able to dance for Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, as well as appear as the lead dancer in the movie Step Up and in commercials for Under Armour.
To think, she once worked as an intern for the Maryland State Senate after college and was hired in the first dance audition she ever attended. She did her undergraduate work in sports management at Towson University and earned a full-ride as a member of its dance team.
A go-getter at heart, Walker has spent time instructing at Royalenova in East Moriches, teaching with Dance Educators for America and pitching in at a local high school sports publication, doing broadcast pieces on the younger generation.
While more than qualified to coach and teach dance to high school girls, she has no intentions of messing with team chemistry at Sachem. Instead, she’ll be there for support if it’s needed.
“If I can ever give input or anything like that I’ll be there,” she said. “The program has been so successful for so many years. I look forward to seeing them at games and having them in class.
“It took me a while to get to this point, but everything I’ve done throughout my career has always come back to the kids.”
By Erin Middlewood
Staff Reporter
The Columbian
August 20, 2010
Amanda Greger almost gave up.
She had auditioned four times for the Portland Trail Blazers’ dance team.
“After I didn’t make it last year, I thought maybe dancing wasn’t my thing,” said Greger, a 22-year-old Vancouver resident.
Before calling it quits, she decided to ask judges for their feedback.
“They said I’m a good dancer, but I’d be a better candidate if I was more fit,” she said.
She hired a personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness in January. When he asked her about her fitness goals, she got straight to the point: “I want to be a BlazerDancer.”
“I wasn’t huge,” she said. “I just wasn’t toned. The trainer’s term was ‘soft.’”
She started lifting weights. She replaced the cereal she was eating for nearly every meal with oatmeal, chicken, veggies and protein shakes. In July, 15 pounds lighter and toned, she returned to audition yet again.
This time, she made it.
Greger traces her passion for dancing to her freshman year at Heritage High School, when she tried out for the dance team.
“I don’t know how I made it,” she said with a laugh. “I was really bad.”
But she stuck with it. After graduating in 2006, she attended the International Air Academy and scored a job based in Seattle with Continental Airlines. She was hit by a car when she was in Cleveland for training. The accident injured her shoulder, and she came home to Vancouver.
Then she got a job with a bank, and decided to return to dancing in her spare time. She joined Groove Nation Academy. She landed a gig dancing for the Vancouver Volcanoes in 2007, and the Portland Winterhawks in 2009.
But she always had her sights set on becoming a BlazerDancer.
It’s not uncommon for aspirants to try out for the team several times, said Michelle Woodard, the Blazers’ performance teams manager, adding that she thinks Greger may have set a record.
“I think coming back five times is pretty unique,” Woodard said. “The audition process is very grueling. You have to be very physically fit.”
The preliminaries include three rounds of cuts in two days. Aspirants learn a new routine for each round.
“It’s stressful,” Woodard said. “You have to learn quickly.”
Judges seek strong dance skills, but not a cookie-cutter look, Woodard said. In fact, the team strives to have dancers look different from each other, but they all have a certain presence, she said.
“They all have an ‘it’ factor, a ‘look-at-me factor,’” she said.
Greger is thrilled judges decided she has what it takes to be a BlazerDancer. In her struggle to make the team, she has drawn inspiration from her roommate, 23-year-old Michelle Johnson, who became a BlazerDancer last year.
“Living with her and knowing she made it was so motivating for me,” she said.
Greger plans to continue taking classes at Clark College and working part time. BlazerDancers earn minimum wage for two 5-hour practices a week and games, and $75 an hour for publicity appearances.
She will have to audition again to keep her spot on the team next year, but she’s already planning on it.
“I want to dance for the Blazers as long as my body will take it.”
The Seattle Sea Gals recently unveiled their 2011 Cheerleader calendar. Click here to check out photos from the event on MyNorthwest.com.
Click here to watch a “making of” preview video on Seahawks.com
Click here to watch video of the unveiling on Seahawks.com
By John Carlson
The Star Press
8/21/2010
YORKTOWN — When Ashlee Bane shows you pictures of herself dressed in an Indianapolis Colts cheerleader’s outfit, they aren’t ones snapped at a costume party.
She was the real deal.
“It was definitely a time in my life that created a lot of memories,” reflected the Wapahani High School graduate, who happened to be celebrating her 28th birthday on this day. “However, it was a phase of my life.”
In other words, she has a lot more living to do.
Right now, life’s journey has her happily situated as the executive program director at the Yorktown Y, continuing a career in the organization with which she first accepted employment back in graduate school. It’s also a job that, at the same time, has allowed her to embrace a passion that she developed many years earlier.
“I’ve always loved working out,” Bane said.
Holder of two degrees from Ball State University — a bachelor’s in exercise science and a master’s in wellness management — she is in charge of Yorktown’s facility, which is shared with the Munciana volleyball program.
This place, she continued, fosters a real sense of community there.
“At the Y,” she said, “we’re more than just a place to come and run on the treadmill, more than a workout place.”
Of course, if it’s a workout you are looking for, Bane will happily oblige.
Being a person who generally works out a couple of hours a day, five or six days a week, plus having routinely and vigorously danced for three hours at a stretch back in her Colts days, she seems an ideal leader for her Y’s “boot camps.”
“It’s like full-body conditioning, really,” she said.
Is she considered a tough drill instructor by the folks, mostly women, who she puts through their paces?
“I don’t know,” Bane said, then laughed. “I guess.”
Herself a veteran Munciana volleyball player, she’s also adept with a bat, having started swinging one as a T-ball kid who even now enjoys Y coed softball. She also serves as a personal trainer for people who want their workout delivered with some individual attention.
Some Y members want to concentrate on weight loss, for example. Others want a taskmaster overseeing them, she said, forcing them to full physical exertion.
Dogs and dancing
Away from the Y she enjoys dancing and spending time with her husband, Jammie, who shares her workout interest, as well as playing with their two Jack Russell terriers and one toy rat terrier. An active member of The Bridge church, she also recently returned from a volunteer mission to Haiti.
“We did a lot of painting,” said Bane, the former membership director of Muncie’s Downtown Y. “We also visited a lot of villages and orphanages.”
Experiences like that might be what she meant when she said much in life awaits her. Yet, as already noted, she doesn’t deny that her Colts cheerleader days are likely to remain among her favorite personal highlights.
“Nothing will beat being down on the field during the kickoff,” she said.
The last of her four years on the squad was the 2005-2006 season, when the cheerleaders joined the Colts’ players in Japan for The American Bowl.
Flipping through a photo album, she points out pictures of herself with other cheerleaders, airborne riding in an Army Blackhawk helicopter and sharing a quick hug with the man himself, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.
Looking back on the experience, she admits it would have been nice to stay another season and be rewarded with the ultimate goal in American football – a Super Bowl ring.
Still, she has no regrets.
She will always proudly embrace the label of former Colts cheerleader, she said, and should she ever forget, her grandmother will undoubtedly do it for her.
“She still tells people that I was a Colts cheerleader,” Bane said, laughing.
Madeleine Marr
The Miami Herald
8/18/2010
[Photos and Video]
Let’s hear a whoop-whoop for Fabiola Romero and Ariana Aubert!
The Dolphin cheerleaders made the respective covers of the annual calendar and the first swimsuit issue of the team magazine, Dolphin Digest.
The women — one blond, the other brunet — found out the big news at an unveiling party at LIV at Fontainebleau on Wednesday night.
“Oh my gosh, it is so exciting,” gushed Romero, who has been with the team four years. “The calendar represents all 40 girls on the entire team so it was very special for me.”
The Venezuelan native said the shoot — at the Dominican Republic’s luxe resort Casa de Campo — was “amazing.”
“We went all over the property and the cover was shot on someone’s yacht,” said Romero. “What a beautiful place.”
Aubert, who is also in her fourth year with the team, was shocked to see herself front and center. “I was really surprised, but I liked it a lot,” she said.
The two are extra pumped to root on the boys once the football season starts.
We can see why. Other big news announced at the party: The Sept. 26 home opener will have a star-spangled lineup of entertainment. Limited partners Marc Anthony and Fergie will team up for the national anthem while Enrique Iglesias takes on halftime duties.
Rah-rah is right!
