Patriots.com has posted new headshots for the 2010-11 Patriots Cheerleaders!
Houston Aeros: First day of auditions for the 2010-11 Aero Dynamics are finished and the finalists have been announced. The girls will have skating practice Sunday followed by the final day of tryouts Saturday, August 7. [Click here and here] for the photo gallery exclusively on SportsRadio610.com.
2010-11 squad to be finalized this week
By Eric Marin
New Jersey Devils
08.02.2010
The hottest dance team in the National Hockey League is about to get even hotter.
Auditions were held Sunday to find the newest members of the Devils Dancers, who light up the Rock during Devils games and spread the Jersey’s Team message with community appearances throughout the Garden State.
Close to 100 hopefuls turned out to make a big impression on the panel of judges, which featured Matt Pinfield of 101.9 RXP FM, Devils’ PA announcer Kevin Clark, and Devils Dancers head coach Amanda Gardella.
“Last year we had an amazing season and we grew so much as a team,” Gardella said. “We are looking to go in that same direction and bring this team to world-class status.”
The Dancers’ reputation as one of the best in the Tri-State area has spread quickly, helping to draw almost 30 more attendants than last year’s event. The final decision on the new additions was expected to be made later this week.
“The reason I want to be a Devils Dancer is because I’ve done alot of research on statewide dance teams, and this one seems to be the most family oriented,” said Jennifer Grecco, 23. “The routines are great, and everyone seems to be having alot of fun.”
By Jason Seidling
Pittsburgh Penguins
8/1/2010
When the weekend began, roughly 80 girls came to the Penguins’ Iceoplex at Southpointe practice rink to try out for the team’s first ever Ice Crew. By the conclusion of Day One on Saturday that list was pared down to 22, and following a more rigorous final session on Sunday, first-year Ice Crew coordinator Laura Spencer was pleased to announce that eight girls were selected to help comprise the co-ed team.
“This is so exciting to have our females picked,” Spencer said. “We picked the top-eight girls and I am just so excited at their talent level. We are going to have a great group this year.”
Not surprisingly, each of the girls who survived the final cut was thrilled to receive the good news.
“This means so much to me,” Dayna Abbott said. “I am just in awe right now. I wish all of the girls could have made it. They definitely picked some great girls.”
“I am ecstatic,” beamed Pamela Gerlowski. “I am such a huge sports fan. I am Pittsburgh born and raised, and I have lived here all of my life. To be on the first Pittsburgh Penguins Ice Crew has me so excited.”
“I am so excited to be a part of this team because I just started working on skating,” said Tara Coyne, a past member of the Penguins Patrol. “It paid off for me, which has me so excited. I was really driven going into this. I am really proud of myself.”
Spencer, a Pittsburgh native who was recently hired to lead the Ice Crew following two years with the Dallas Stars Ice Girls team, said the girls who tried out this past weekend – not just the eight who made the team but all of the girls – were so impressive that the pressure will be on the guys when male auditions are held on Wednesday, August 11.
“The guys are really going to have to bring a high talent level because these women really stepped it up,” Spencer said. “I am excited to see what the men have to bring.”
Once Spencer picks a group of males to join the females in rounding out the squad, she wants the team to begin practicing right away because the Ice Crew will have just a little over a month to prepare for the first preseason game at CONSOL Energy Center on September 22.
“We will be working hard towards getting ready for the Sept. 22 home preseason opener,” Spencer said. “That means that practices are going to be a must. We plan on getting the group on the ice together as soon as possible so that we are ready when that day comes.”
As a veteran of the group thanks to her Penguins Patrol experience, Coyne knows the team will be ready when Sept. 22 rolls around because of the hard work Spencer will put in getting the girls prepared.
“She is amazing,” Coyne said. “She is just what the team needed. They wanted to make the team more energetic for the fans and I think she is perfect for the job.”
Speaking of being perfect for the job, judging by the excitement level of the girls who made the team, Spencer did great work choosing the right candidates who will add to the energy level at CONSOL Energy Center.
“I am looking forward to being involved in the action,” Michelle Moore said. “We have great fans and I can’t wait to help get them fired up during the games.”
“I can wait to come to the games and interact with the fans to get them excited,” Annie Federoff said. “I think I have great people skills to be good at that.”
Perhaps more importantly than the talents the girls will bring on the ice, each of the eight women selected are very accomplished off the ice.
Coyne is a Westminster graduate who was recently hired to teach kindergarten in the downtown Pittsburgh Kinder Care facility, while Federoff, who graduated from Alderson-Broaddus College with a biology major and chemistry minor, serves as a personal trainer while she job hunts.
All of the other girls are also either recent graduates or currently enrolled in local colleges.
Gerlowski graduated from Duquesne University in May with a double major in sociology with criminal justice and integrated marketing communications. Moore, who attended Slippery Rock, also graduated in May and is an elementary education major.
Among those still in college, Abbott is a junior marketing and public relations major at Duquesne. She hopes to do PR for a successful company one day where she can “make a difference for that company.”
Based upon the talents shown on the ice this weekend, and the genuine personality of each girl off the ice, Penguins fans should be happy to know the organization is going to be represented by a first-class team when the Ice Crew makes its debut on Sept. 22.
“I can’t wait to be a part of the whole atmosphere,” Gerlowski said. “I’m looking forward to having a strong bond with all of the girls on the team and being a part of the excitement and energy we hope to bring to the fans. Hopefully we can add to their entertainment value and make them proud to watch us.”
Detroit Pistons: Congratulations to the 15 women who will represent the 2010-11 Automotion Dance Team. Click here to view a photo gallery of the Finals performance and team presentation.
By Jason Seidling
Pittsburgh Penguins
8/1/2010
The Penguins wrapped the female portion of tryouts for the team’s first-ever Ice Crew on Sunday morning as 22 finalists gathered at the team’s Iceoplex at Southpointe practice rink to put their best skills on display in hopes of securing one of the coveted roster spots.
[Day Two Photo Gallery]
[Day One Photo Gallery]
Following a three-hour session which included a more extensive round of interview questions and on-ice skating drills, Ice Crew coordinator Laura Spencer and her group of evaluators pared the finalists down from 22 to the eight girls who will comprise one half of the co-ed team.
“This was a really tough competition, but everything was really well organized and it went a lot faster than I expected it to,” Lauren Thomas said. “The interview was a little intimidating with a panel of 12 people standing in front of you, but it was still a great experience.”
The team will be complete when Spencer holds male auditions on Wednesday, August 11 – also at Southpointe.
Day Two of tryouts began on Sunday with the 22 finalists once again interviewing before a panel of judges. Unlike Day One, Sunday’s interviews were one-on-one instead of groups. The girls were also asked a handful of questions as Spencer attempted to get to know each one’s personality.
Each girl was given a different set of questions, although all of them were instructed not to talk about what questions they were asked until everyone was done.
Just like Saturday, some of the girls entered and exited the interview room eager to strut her stuff, while others felt more of a nervous feeling.
“It was a little nerve-wracking because some girls came out happy while others were a little shaky,” Erica Corteal said. “That got you wondering, ‘What are they going to ask me?’ They asked me who influenced me the most and what were the most inspirational words they have said to me. I told them my parents because they have always told me to have fun and be myself.”
Another of the finalists, Sarah Cammarata, was confident that she had a good interview, a fact she credited to Spencer and the judges.
“They did a great job to make sure that you felt comfortable,” Cammarata said. “One of the things they asked was what would be the most challenging part of being on the Ice Crew? I told them being on the dirty ice in hockey skates because I am used to clean ice and figure skates.”
Besides questions based upon getting to know the girls, Spencer also had some Penguins’ trivia questions ready for the girls just like she promised on Saturday.
“My hockey question was to name my favorite player,” Corteal said. “I said (Marc-Andre) Fleury because who doesn’t love Fleury? He’s like the best goaltender ever. I just love his accent.”
“My hockey question was to name the years the Penguins have won the Stanley Cup,” Cammarata said. “I got it right because I spent time going over all my trivia.”
Not all of the girls were asked hockey-related questions, and a few were actually disappointed because they had taken Spencer’s advice and went home and brushed up on their Penguins’ trivia.
“They actually didn’t give me a hockey question,” Thomas said. “I have good knowledge of the Penguins so I was wondering where my trivia questions were!”
After each girl finished her 5-7 minute interview, the women laced up their hockey skates and hit the ice for the second half of tryouts.
Sunday’s on-ice session saw Spencer add a higher degree of difficulty as the girls had to skate two drills with the large shovels they will use to clean the ice during games.
The first time the girls started along the far boards at center ice. With the shovel in hand, they skated to center ice, stopped, held the shovel in the proper upright position and waved towards the crowd. Then they skated into the far zone where they did a figure-eight around the faceoff circles. They completed the drill by skating the length of the ice along the benches, where they had to keep the shovel against the boards.
For their second routine the girls started in a hockey position along the goal line – again with shovel in hand. They sprinted towards center ice, stopped, waved to the crowd and came back to the goal line.
“I was really surprised because I thought the shovel was going to be very hard to carry and very heavy,” Kelli Murawski said. “Actually, it wasn’t. It was very easy to move around the ice.
“I don’t think that it really changed your balance all that much. You just had to use more force because there was more weight you were pushing.”
“It was pretty heavy so it made skating a little more difficult,” Cari Breed countered. “You had to push it really hard because if you didn’t push hard then it would go wherever it wanted.
“You had to put pressure on it because it had to stay along the ice. Skating around with it the wind kind of takes it if you don’t keep it straight. You just had to bend your knees and really get into it.”
After the girls went through the on-ice testing they returned to the holding room on the other side of the rink where they awaited their fate.
“I think they had really hard decisions based upon how well everyone performed,” Murawski said. “I think that these tryouts went very well.”
Following a brief meeting with her fellow panelists, Spencer emerged in front of the group. She thanked everyone for trying out, congratulated them on an outstanding effort and said that she hoped to see all the girls try out again next year.
Unfortunately 14 girls had to see their dream come to an end this season, but the eight girls who were chosen to help comprise the Penguins’ first-ever Ice Crew represent a hard-working, talented and all-around gifted squad which will make the Penguins’ organization and the city of Pittsburgh very proud in 2010-11.
Portland Trailblazers
7/20/2010
Congratulations to the 2010-2011 BlazerDancers! The sixteen dancers who make up the squad were chosen from thirty three finalists who have been auditioning for the past week to make the team.
The audition process started with a weekend of preliminary rounds where dancers learned and performed three routines for judges with cuts being made after each routine. Judges included Trail Blazers representatives, professionals from the dance community, former BlazerDancers, journalists and fans. The judges were looking for well-rounded performers to represent the Trail Blazers organization.
By the second day, the field was cut down to 33 finalists, including eleven returning BlazerDancers who were all competing for one of the 16 spots. The finalists spent the next week going through interviews with Trail Blazers representatives, practicing the 3 finals routines that they learned, and creating a solo routine to perform at the finals. When the dancers arrived for the finals at the Winningstad Theater in Portland’s Center for the Performing Arts, they were surprised with an additional dance to perform and only one hour to prepare for it. Luckily, this was a free-style “hot time-out” dance that didn’t require any choreography, but instead was meant to showcase the dancers’ personalities and their ability to have fun and play to the crowd.
After performing five routines, the judges’ scores were tallied and the audition process was over. Unfortunately for the dancers, they had to wait 24 hours to find out whether they had made the team. The next day, each dancer came to the Rose Garden and found out individually if she had made the final cut by finding a BlazerDancer uniform in her locker. Once a dancer got the good news, she joined the rest of her excited teammates.
This season’s squad includes eleven returning dancers, two dancers who were on the team in previous years, and three rookies. The Trail Blazers are happy and proud to introduce you to a group of young women the fans will come to know very well. [Photo Page #1] [Photo Page #2]
Auditions are over and the dancers have been selected. Names and details to follow soon.
Golden State Warriors: The first 17 spots on the 2010-11 Warrior Girls dance team have been chosen, but the last selection is up to YOU, the fans. Watch videos of our three finalists and vote for who you think should join the Warrior Girls for the upcoming season. Voting ends on Tuesday morning. [Click here to vote for Michelle, Tiana, or Tina]
By Jason Seidling
Pittsburgh Penguins
07.31.2010
The Iceoplex at Southpointe was filled with many smiling faces on Saturday as the Penguins hosted Day One of female tryouts for the team’s first-ever Ice Crew. However, none of the smiles shone brighter at the end of the day than the 22 lucky girls who were chosen to return for Sunday’s final tryout.
Male Ice Crew auditions will be held on Wednesday, August 11.
Ice Crew coordinator Laura Spencer, a former dancer for the Dallas Stars Ice Girls team who is in charge of leading this year’s squad, was ecstatic with both the talent level and the positive attitude the girls brought to the rink.
“I am very pleased with how Saturday went,” Spencer said. “We had a great group of girls who came out. I am really looking forward to Sunday because it is going to be tough to make those decisions.
“The talent both on and off the ice was outstanding on Saturday. The judges rated the girls on their scale of numbers. Once we rated them it seemed like the same girls who were great skaters also did the best in the interviews.”
Needless to say, each of the 22 girls who were chosen as finalists were equally as happy to come back on Sunday as Spencer was to have them back.
“I am ecstatic,” said Michelle Moore, echoing the sentiments of the group. “I am just blown away to be a finalist. I can’t stop smiling inside and out.”
It probably went without saying that these girls were so happy just minutes after receiving the news they woke up on Saturday dreaming of hearing, but another reason a couple of the ladies said they are so pumped up to return on Sunday is the energy and passion Spencer exuberates.
“I think she is so cute,” Kelli Murawski said. “She reminds me of a cheerleader because I was a cheerleader. I just think she is so adorable and energetic out on the ice. It makes me want to be like that.”
Many of the girls who will be back on Sunday competing for final roster spots agreed with Spencer that things went very smoothly on Saturday, especially because this was the first time the Penguins have ever tried assembling an Ice Crew.
“I think that it went great,” Stacey Farkosh said. “It was really well organized considering this was the first time that Pittsburgh has had an official Ice Crew like this. I think Laura did a great job running this. I hope it’s just as smooth on Sunday.”
“I think that tryouts went really well on Saturday,” Murawski said. “I think there were a lot of really talented girls that showed up from Pittsburgh. I didn’t know that we had this much talent in the city. It was so well organized for the first time.”
Judging by the performances we saw on Saturday, Spencer is going to have her hands full paring down a supremely talented group of finalists. As a result, she is going to kick the tryout process up several notches for Day Two.
“Sunday there are going to be more interviews with a lot more questions asked to get a better feel for the girls,” Spencer said. “On the ice they will be skating alone as opposed to groups. They will also have the tools to skate with.”
With less than 24 hours between the two tryout sessions, the ladies probably don’t have enough time for more on-ice practice, but all of them plan to spend Saturday night honing up their Penguins’ knowledge in anticipation for the trivia and team-related questions Spencer promised to throw their way on Sunday.
“I am going to go online and review everything on PittsburghPenguins.com,” Erica Carteal said. “I’m also going to call my brothers – that’s for sure. They grew up playing hockey so I’m going to have them grill me like crazy until my brain is fried.”
“My brother and my dad are going to quiz me all night,” Moore added. “I am a huge hockey fan so I know the basic rules.”
One of the reporters quickly decided to test just how extensive Moore’s knowledge was, so he asked her to name the three years the Penguins have won the Stanley Cup.
“1991, ’92 and 2009!” said Moore before the question could even be completed.
Yes, I think she does know her hockey. But really, should we be surprised at that coming from a Pittsburgh girl?
Absolutely not, and that’s what is going to make Sunday’s final tryout such an amazing experience for each of the 22 finalists as they push each other thanks to each girl’s outstanding skating skills and great understanding of Penguins’ history.
If Saturday is any indication, Spencer and the Penguins are going to have themselves quite an Ice Crew to represent the team in 2010-11.
