By Mike Urban
Reading Eagle
5/3/2010

It was the end of the semester and grad student Danielle Pretti needed to finish four long research papers, but it was tough staying focused.

That’s because Danielle was also trying out to be a Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader.

She finished her schoolwork, and then she auditioned well enough to be picked as an Eagles cheerleader for the upcoming season.

“It was a busy week,” said Danielle, 22, of Ruscombmanor Township.

Danielle had tried out for the team the last two years, competing against 400 to 500 other women.

Two years ago, she made the semifinals, a big accomplishment for a first-time applicant. Last year, she was eliminated in the first round.

“I was devastated,” recalled the Holy Name High School 2005 and Kutztown University 2009 graduate.

She decided to give it one more shot.

So along with pursuing a master’s degree as a reading specialist at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, substitute teaching in Reading elementary schools and performing on the R-Phils Dance Team, she prepared for this year’s audition.

Danielle worked out every day, ate well, continued dance training and practiced her cheer routines.

After advancing through several rounds of eliminations, she reached the final round, where she had to walk in a bathing suit before 10 judges and perform one more routine.

That night she couldn’t sleep as she waited to find out if she’d been picked.

The suspense ended at 7:20 a.m. when her cell phone buzzed.

“It said ‘CONGRATULATIONS’ in capital letters,” she said of a text message. “I was one of the 38 picked.”

Danielle has always loved dancing. She took classical dance since she was 3 and had long dreamed of being a professional cheerleader.

Her proud mom, Patti Rodgers of Ruscombmanor Township, always has been by her side, taking her to ballet lessons and sitting in the stands when Danielle was a football cheerleader at Holy Name.

Danielle has a lot to look forward to, as she is set to graduate from St. Joseph’s in July and will marry her fiance, Scott Hettinger of Spring Township, in 2011.

And then there are the Eagles games, where she’ll help lead 68,000 rabid Eagles fans from the sidelines of Lincoln Financial Field.

“When they took the new cheerleaders down on the field for the first time it finally sunk in that I’m really doing this,” she said. “There were no words. It’s a dream come true.”

By Stu Bykofsky
Daily News Columnist
Philadelphia Daily News
May 3, 2010

CJ WAS OUT having his eighth and final chemotherapy treatment for cancer in his chest when I arrived at the three-bedroom house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in Bensalem.

CJ is a 10-year-old chocolate Lab. The family’s other pet is Sammy, a 13 1/2-year-old, 100-pound Malamute, who was entertaining company.

As was Marylou Tammaro, a retired Eagles cheerleader who had finished chemotherapy for breast cancer six months earlier.

The prognosis for both CJ and Marylou is good. Marylou is now cancer-free (knock wood) and will run on Mother’s Day in her first Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure. She will be joined and supported by Team Ra-Ras for Ta-Tas.

(Translation: Ra-Ra is what cheerleaders do. The team is comprised of former Eagles cheerleaders. Ta-Tas? If you are old enough to read this, you can figure that out for yourself.)

Which leads me to the relationship between cheerleaders and breasts, a touchy subject. (For me, it is a “no-touchy” subject.)

Jokes can be made now because the anguish is behind Marylou, who underwent a double mastectomy as a life-insuring precaution. That decision was difficult – highly personal and emotional.

Breasts are “part of being a woman, part of who I am. You want to look nice in your clothes,” says Marylou, 55.

“I am not my breasts, but you still miss them.”

Marylou’s first cheer year was 1972; she was head choreographer from 1984 to ’96, then director until 2001. She’s now a medical secretary.

From age 40, Marylou had regular mammograms. Occasionally the film seemed to show something, but those were always false alarms. So when she was called back a year ago, it didn’t worry her.

When the call came, she was at the Acme on “cheap-chicken Monday,” with her husband, Don, 55, who works in construction.

The call, on April 27, wasn’t an all-clear.

“Shock” was her reaction. “A numbness,” while “the ‘Chicken Dance’ was playing on the P.A.”

The next few months were filled with fear and tears. Don and daughters Christine, 36, and Melissa, 30, were as close as fingers as Marylou went through it. During chemo, Don “sat through every minute of it with me,” Marylou says.

Anyone who has walked this path can tell you about the nausea, the lost hair, the metallic taste like a nickel in your mouth, the chilling fear and sometimes despair.

Cheerleaders are optimistic by nature, Marylou tells me. Now, with Sammy lying at her feet, she concentrates on the positive.

While Marylou was in the midst of her crisis, Maggie Thrush Hammond, 38, was working on something else. The former Eagles cheerleader (1993-99) was organizing a reunion of Eagles cheerleaders – decades upon decades of them.

Last September, using Marylou’s records and Facebook, Maggie assembled a “rowdy group” for a reunion on the Moshulu, which led to the “girls” (as they call each other) organizing into the Cheerleaders Chapter of the NFL Alumni Philadelphia Chapter, headed by former Eagles quarterback Joe Pisarcik. Maggie is the membership chair.

If you’re wondering, as I did, why it’s “NFL” and not E-A-G-L-E-S Alumni, that’s because the Eagles are super-protective of their brand.

These are high-character people – many teachers, businesswomen, lawyers. The Eagles hire Michael Vick, but won’t spread their wings over former cheerleaders?

“I think the work the alumnae do is great,” says Eagles spokeswoman Pamela Browner White, but “the current cheerleaders represent us in the community with more than 350 appearances a year.”

Maggie, a nurse at Jefferson, has a 4-year-old son, Brady, a developer husband, Cory, 42, and 300 pounds of dogs – Brandy, 7, and Bronson, 8. She does have a life, thank you, but found time along with some other “girls” to unite 300 former Eagles cheerleaders, primarily to work for charities.

“We weren’t sure Marylou was going to make it to the reunion because she had chemo that Monday, and the party was Saturday,” Maggie says.

But Marylou made it. “It was very emotional” because “Marylou is our inspiration.

“We wanted her to feel the love everyone has for her and that’s when we decided to do Komen,” says Maggie. Credit her for the (trademarked) Team Ra-Ras for Ta-Tas name.

“We do focus primarily on caring for kids,” Maggie says, but “we did deviate from that for the Susan G. Komen – because we had so many alumnae who were affected.” Ten are breast-cancer survivors.

“The alumnae cheerleaders have just been phenomenal,” says Marylou, dabbing her eyes with a Kleenex handed her by Don. “Less than a year old and they’ve made their mark, a wonderful group of women.

“I’ll do the race every Mother’s Day.”

Eagles Unveil Plans To Honor 1960 Team
PhiladelphiaEagles.com
May 3, 2010

The Eagles turned back the clock Monday as the organization unveiled plans to honor the 50th Anniversary of the 1960 Championship at Franklin Field.

Hall of Famers Tommy McDonald and Chuck Bednarik, along with Pete Retzlaff joined current Eagles DeSean Jackson, Stewart Bradley and Brent Celek for this historic announcement at Franklin Field. Jackson, Bradley and Celek sported the throwback 1960 kelly green jerseys which will be worn at the 2010 season opener against the Green Bay Packers, the team the 1960 Eagles beat for the franchise’s third NFL Championship. [article continued]

ABC13.com: After weeks of preparation, grueling tryouts and plenty of performances, the Houston Texans are just about finished picking their cheerleaders squad. But they need your help! There’s only one spot remaining on the squad and four hopefuls vying for it. Click [here] to watch dances and hear from the finalists themselves, and then vote for the one you think would make the best Houston Texans cheerleader! Once all the votes are counted, the one with the most will join the squad!
Who will win the final spot?
Ashley, Christina, Hayley, or Lindsey?

CBS4Denver.com
May 1, 2009

The Denver Broncos cheerleader tryouts are Saturday, and for the first time people can watch the auditions and vote on the finalists.

“Finals are open to the public, so it really tests how well we perform, which is important because in a couple of months that crowd becomes 76,000, instead of 300,” said Broncos Cheerleader Romi Bean.

Tickets are still available through the Denver Broncos’ BroncosCountry.com Web site. They cost $20 per person.

“This is a way to really connect to our die-hard fans,” said Bean.

Last year about 200 women tried out. Usually 34 are picked for the squad, but this year only 26 will be chosen.

Veteran cheerleaders must try-out every year to keep their place on the squad.

“Every year all the veterans have to try out again. This year we are cutting the team down to 26, so all of us, we have to be on our ‘A’ game, we have to every single year if we have make the team, ” said Bean.

Cheerleaders are chosen on more than just their dancing or athletic ability.

“We have a business interview that accounts for 40 percent of our score. We also have to create our own choreography. The judges look at our community service and we also have to turn in a resume. The year we must complete a written football exam. They’re looking for the whole package,” said Bean.

Saturday’s event takes place at the University of Denver’s Davis Auditorium. It will include a raffle and prizes.

At 2 p.m. the organization will stage for the first time ever the finals of it “Broncos Country Talent Search” in which people audition for a chance to win tickets to Broncos games, perform at tailgate events and sing the national anthem at a game.

Cheerleader auditions start at 6 p.m.

Athena Lazo, ’11
Staff Reporter
The Morrisville State Chimes

Push hard, work hard, be unbreakable. This is the motto I have recently found myself living by. For over five weeks, I endured a grueling audition process, fighting for a spot as a New England Patriots Cheerleader.

Dom Helder Camara once said, “When we are dreaming alone, it is only a dream; When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality.” On Feb. 20, I joined 266 other women with similar hopes in mind. After learning two dance routines, standing in lines for countless hours, and completely forgetting everything I learned once stepping into the judges’ room, I felt defeated. A feeling that I would feel incalculable times over the next 35 days.

Someone must have been on my side that night, because I was chosen to return for finals on March 6. Not once throughout the audition and interview process did I feel I was guaranteed a spot. To this day I still think back on the beautiful, talented women whom I auditioned with, and wonder why I was chosen over them. I never have understood the dance audition process fully; you never know what judges are looking for, but I am not arguing right now.

Two years ago, I showed up to preliminary auditions with a close friend hoping for a spot on the 2008-2009 team. After eight cuts, I was called into the coach’s office and told to work on certain aspects of my dancing and my look. She encouraged me to return the following year. I did not cry until I was locked tight in my car. Thoughts raced through my head of what I could have done differently, but I honestly had given it my all. Every audition, whether I have passed it or not, I have given 110 percent.

Instead of giving up, I decided to return this year to give it another shot. Each week, I committed to commute about 1200 miles for this process. It would be worth it to me if I was chosen. My mother was a Patriots Cheerleader over 20 years ago. I grew up only knowing the Patriots. Only supporting the Patriots, and loving the NFL. Some girls are turned onto the glam and the glitz that the job offers. Everyone thinks that NFL cheerleaders are simply good looks and charming personalities, but the bonds that I have begun to create are unbreakable, and I can honestly say, these 24 ladies know how to work hard. Every practice and every moment we are together is nothing but heart and soul. These women are intelligent and sincere, and alongside our coach, Tracy Sormanti, we have learned to positively enhance ourselves as people.

From the second I stepped up to the registration table, smiles from the veterans on the team encouraged me to do my best. Every single girl was there to pick up another throughout the process. No one was ever left hanging.

Every other audition I have been to, I have fended for myself. Other candidates do not want to help you; they do not want to see you succeed. If you are the best, you make the cuts, but not this audition. The veterans understand that they want the perfect teammates next to them on game days and during promotions, and they were there every step of the way.

It does not matter who tells you you cannot; prove them wrong. My mother did not want me to return for this year’s audition. She said she could not bare to see me crushed, as I had been previously. In my mind, anything worth it to me, should be worth the hard work and effort. I have been told no; I have been let down, but you know what, it made this process even that more enticing.

What got me through months of training and an almost 30 pound weight loss? What got me through 348 high kicks, 80 pushups, a P90X ab workout, and perfecting four dance routines at the first optional practice? I will tell you what got me through it, the thought that I wanted to be a part of a team, a family; the thought that I wanted to train and grow with the best; the thought that I knew I could do this. The thought that I wanted to represent the three time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots in their upcoming football season.

It is not about being the best dancer, having the biggest smile, or being the most approachable. It is not about the skinniest body, or being superficial. What we have and what we will go through is nothing short of the hardest journey, and I never imagined I would be in the position I am today. Did I dream of it for years, of course I did, but joining those ladies on the field in August will fulfill what I have desired since I was young. I am still waiting for my coach to take my uniforms back, and say she was just kidding. This whole thing seems unreal.

Some may think a silly dance audition could not possibly mean this much to someone. Yes, there are far more difficult situations out there. My big brother endured a brain stem tumor as a child, and had to fight past the age of nine; he survived. My aunt was just recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She is fighting for her life with each day; she will survive.

Any procedure you go through in life, you need someone to back you. Fortunately, I had my family: My grandmother, whom is my biggest fan. My mother, whose honesty kept me in check the entire time; and my grandfather’s faith.

I may have not been the best of the best, but I was what the team was looking for this year, and I am more than grateful to be honored with a spot on the team. The squad was opened up to 11 new members for the 2010-2011 year. I had a four percent chance of making the team when I walked through the doors of the Dana Farber Field house on Feb. 20, but this did not scare me.

I will be joining 24 elite ladies in the Dominican Republic at the end of the month to shoot our 2011 swimsuit calendar. Do I belong in this small group? I am not sure, but I am going to work to prove that those judges made the right decision, and I will never forget the almost impossible process I went through to get where I am today.

By Casey Bolsega – Special to Colts.com
Tuesday, April 27 2010

INDIANAPOLIS – You’ve seen their faces, you’ve read their profiles, you’ve even voted for your favorite, now be the first to see the 2010 Indianapolis Colts’ Cheerleading Squad. Tickets are now on sale at the first ever Colts Cheerleader Audition Finals Showcase, and the Indianapolis Colts are inviting you to be a guest. This showcase is being held at Plainfield High School on May 5th, and is a must see for any Colts Cheerleader fan,click here to purchase tickets now.

The showcase will feature the 66 cheerleading finalist. They’ve been through a very rigorous audition process, which has been mentally exhausting on these young women. Not to mention requiring countless hours of physical preparation in effort to hear their name called on May 5th. The field will be narrowed from 66 to 32 with the final 32 being named the 2010 Indianapolis Colts’ Cheerleading Squad.

The doors will open at 7:00 PM on the 5th, with the show promptly beginning at 7:30PM. All 66 finalists will participate in an opening dance performance. From here, each finalist will participate in the swimsuit competition. After modeling how they look on the beach, they will show how they look for a night on the town with the evening wear competition. Last, but not least, the judges will gather for an intense decision making process that will conclude with an announcement of the “Top 32” that are this year’s Indianapolis Colts’ Cheerleading Squad. These will be the cheerleaders for the entire 2010-2011 season, and YOU will get to see them first.

“It has been a very long process. From the interviews, to the dance routines, we’ve gotten to know these young women very well,” says the Indianapolis Colts’ Cheerleading Coordinator Theresa Pottratz. “We’re looking for the complete package, these girls have been through this long process, and we will take every little detail into consideration. The ones that will be chosen for the 2010 squad must be able to dance, be in great physical condition, and must possess the poise and showmanship it takes to be a member of the Indianapolis Colts’ Cheerleading Squad,” explains Pottratz.

The stage is set, all you have to do now is get your tickets for the first Indianapolis Colts Cheerleader Audition Finals Showcase, click here to purchase tickets now.

Tami Krause, MVC Head Coach and Coordinator
Vikings.comApr 29, 2010

The 2010 Minnesota Vikings Cheerleader auditions came to their conclusion last night at the Mall of America with a show down between 58 of Minnesota’s greatest women!

The final team has been selected and we are proud to announce the 34 ladies who will represent the Minnesota Vikings during their 50th anniversary season. Congrats to all of the ladies on a job well done!

Click here to view a photo gallery of the 2010 Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders.

SILVER & BLACK
Manteca sports two Raiderettes

By Vince Rembulat
Reporter
mantecabulletin.com

A few days ago, Jessica Maxwell was in San Leandro getting fitted with a sample silver-and-black Raiderette uniform.

The 2009 graduate of East Union High was at the practice facility for the orientation of new members for one of the highest profile cheer squads in the National Football League.

“I’m still in shock (of becoming a Raiderette),” said Maxwell on Wednesday at the Dance and Cheer Stars Studio. “But after getting fitted, I realized that the experience is real.”

Fortunately, she will be joined on this year’s 36-member squad supporting the Oakland Raiders by fellow Manteca product Jonni Rogers, who is back for her third year as a Raiderette.

“I still had to try out just to keep my spot,” said Rogers, who was a co-captain last year and, prior to that, earned Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

She’s a 2008 graduate of Sierra High.

Rogers and Maxwell can be thankful to former Raiderette Harmony Flores, who is the owner and operator of the Dance and Cheer Stars.
She served as mentor to her two long-time dance and cheer pupils.

Jonni, Jessica, and Harmony

“Jessica is my sixth student to make a professional cheer squad,” Flores said.

She was a Raiderette from 2004 to 2006, and was able to use her experience to instruct Rogers and Maxwell on how to dress, walk, dance, and speak properly during tryouts.

Rogers and Maxwell are also instructors at Dance and Cheer Stars.

Rogers teaches Jazz and lyrical dancing while Maxwell handles the creative movement for children age 2 to 5 along with competitive cheer team (signups are still available for those ages 3 to 18; call Dance and Cheer Stars at 209-456-7373 for more information).

In addition, they’re employed at the Manteca In-Shape Health Club and currently attend Delta College.

Rogers and Maxwell will soon add Raiderette practice to the mix. They’re planning to commute together to San Leandro during these three-days-a-week sessions not to mention the home games in Oakland.

The Raiderettes, for safety reasons, are prohibited from taking public transportation such as BART to the Oakland Coliseum, according to Flores. Instead, members of the silver-and-black cheer squad, on most Sundays, must make their way through the morning crowds – including the drove of tailgaters – in time for the pre-game practices.

Those failing to arrive to the stadium on time must sit out the game, said Flores.

Maxwell was a Lancers cheerleader during all four years at East Union.

At the beginning, she was nervous about trying out for the Raiderettes. “Harmony and Jonni helped calm me down,” Maxwell said.

Added Flores, “I had all the confidence in the world that Jessica was ready,” she said.

As a rookie, Maxwell will go through a 90-day probationary period. And if all goes accordingly, she’ll be honored with a necklace and rose during a ceremony for Raiderettes.

Meanwhile, Flores and Rogers proudly displayed their symbolic Raiderette piece worn proudly around their necks.

“We’re part of a sisterhood,” Flores said. “Once you’re a Raiderette, you’re a Raiderette forever.”

Maxwell has yet to experience the vibe of an actual NFL game and performing in front of perhaps the most rabid fans in U.S. professional sports.

“Raider fans are active and supportive (of the Raiderettes),” said Flores, who plans to attend all the home games. “There’s really no time to be nervous.”

Rogers agreed.

“The day of the game is always exciting, from the playing of the National Anthem to performing in front of the fans,” she said.

Her favorite spot in the Coliseum is the Black Hole.

“I consider them our best fans,” she said. “They’re also very protective of us.”

The families of Rogers and Flores are Raider fans.

What about Maxwell’s family?

“My dad just became a Raiderette fan,” Jessica Maxwell said.