By Jason Brisboi
The Salem Gazette
Sept 24, 2009

Salem – The screaming fans. The noise and excitement of Foxboro Stadium. Cheering on the hometown New England Patriots, a winning franchise. Travel around the globe.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right?

According to Julie Warner, it certainly is. Warner — a Salem State College graduate resident who grew up in Gloucester — is in her third season as a New England Patriots cheerleader. She is a team captain this year, and is one of the most experienced members of the squad.

Despite all of the benefits, however, it’s in no way an easy job. While most fans are just now gearing up for the upcoming football season in August, Warner and the other cheerleaders began the 2009 football season in late February, just a few short weeks after the completion of the Super Bowl. The job requires months upon months of tryouts, practices, games, charity events and publicity events. And this doesn’t even factor in each member of the squad also juggling a full-time job at the same time to pay the bills.

“I have a full-time job as well as that, and I teach dance one day a week in Woburn,” explains Warner, who also works as a field sales representative. “So I have three jobs. This is definitely something that is a full-time commitment, but a part-time job.“We obviously have a couple of practices a week,” she continues. “And we do promotions and appearances. Then there are the games we do. We also work with junior cheerleaders, where we have a clinic and all the kids come to that. It’s different every week.”

As a team captain this season, Warner’s responsibilities have expanded to being a leader for the 28 other members of the squad she works with throughout the year. The cheerleaders will get together during their own off time to make sure they are all on the same page, and Warner has a big part in this.

“Sometimes we get together by ourselves because there are a lot of things we need to know,” says the Gloucester resident. “Whether its cheers or dances, I’m one of the captains, so I try to make sure everyone gets together and knows what they’re doing.”

A former GHS cheerleader and an avid dancer (she attended Miss Tina’s dance school locally as part of her initial training), Warner currently one of the most tenured and experienced members of the team. After graduating from Gloucester High, Warner went to Salem State College and concentrated on dance, joining the school’s reparatory dance theater. After graduating from college, the Gloucester native decided she wanted to take the next logical step.

“When I was done with college, I wanted to pursue dancing and cheering along those lines,” says Warner. “I ended up auditioning for the Patriots, trying to make that a goal I was trying to achieve. So, I felt personally, when you’re at the top, where you’ve done dance and so much stuff, this is the greatest thing that can come out of it. I did it more or less after college because I knew I’d have to drive to Foxboro for practices, and I wanted to be more established so I could give it more of a commitment.”

And what a commitment it is, even from the start. For example, even cheerleaders who made the squad last season have to go through tryouts once again a year later. It’s a process that can be harrowing, even for a three-year veteran.

“You have auditions and 300-400 people show up,” explains Warner. “You go through a couple of rounds of dances and different things like that. You get to show some freestyle dancing, and then do things they show you. If you move on to the finals, that narrows it down to 50-60 girls, including girls returning and trying to make the team again.”

After the finals, the field is narrowed down to 35, and that group is further paired down to the final number (29 this season, 24 last season) after a two-week boot camp. And this all occurs well before the football teams begin training camps.

But the effort is worth it to those who do make the team. As Warner described, there’s always something different on the schedule each week. She has traveled to Aruba and the Dominican Republic to take part in the team’s annual swimsuit calendar. She was with the team when the Patriots battled against the Giants in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. And in July of 2008, she was able to travel to China with the team.

“It’s really cool, because obviously I’ve never been anywhere like that,” says Warner. “Because I was doing this with the Patriots, I got my first passport. We traveled to China and we worked with Chinese cheerleaders and mascots.”

It’s opportunities such as these that Warner will cherish more than ever; this will also be her last season with the team. There is a limit of three years of cheering with the Patriots, and after this season, Warner will retire. And while the term “retirement” brings to mind images of life moving at a slower pace, that’s a notion that she won’t embrace entirely. To begin with, she is looking forward to getting married in May. She will continue to work her full-time job in sales. She also may start teaching more with more time available to her.

“Honestly, I think as much as I love it and would end up doing it every year that I could, it’s also something that gives you closure,” says Warner. “Once you get to retire, you’ll always be a part of that. That’s also one thing that’s really good about it. There’s only 29 spots available, and for that many girls to audition every single year, it’s something that allows other girls a chance to step on the sidelines.”

Warner may also set aside some personal time for the first time in recent memory for herself over the coming year.

“Since I was young, I was such a busybody, and I liked to do things and dance,” she says. “I never got to sit still and enjoy a summer. I’ve always had five jobs that led to a full-time job. Next year, I want to kind of relax and take a step back and see what I’ve done, and then move on with the adult things in life.”

There are, however, things Warner will miss about being a cheerleader for the New England Patriots.

“I love that every year, I’ve made a whole bunch of new friends,” she says. “I like that I get to be on the field with the Patriots, cheering them on in front of 70,000 fans. The music is going, the fans get going, and that’s the most exciting part of it because everyone is so excited. The excitement and feeling you get at the beginning of a game, that’s one thing I will actually miss.”

New photos on SportsIllustrated.com: Patriots, Seahawks, Texans, Bucs, Bengals, Falcons, Ravens, and Saints. Go there now.

PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 24, 2009 – For fans of the Cincinnati-based NFL cheerleaders for the Bengals, the long wait is over. The Ben-Gals’ 2009-2010 calendar has been released. Each month features one of the beautiful women who earned a place on this year’s squad.

Natalie, a second-year Ben-Gal, graces the cover of the 2009-2010 calendar.

Kenneth R. Collopy, artistic director for Perfections Salon, the official salon of the Ben-Gals, said at the calendar unveiling party, “These women are some of the most beautiful, talented and sweet girls you’d ever want to meet. We take care of their hair year-round, but the photo shoot for the calendar is one of the highlights of our year. After 50 years of doing hair for editorial shoots, you’d think I’d be tired of it by now, but I always look forward to this calendar shoot.”

According to Collopy, this is the seventh year the Ben-Gals have published a calendar. The photography for the calendar takes about six or seven day-long photo shoots across four or five weeks, he said. Because the nearly 30 cheerleaders have full-time careers, scheduling can be difficult. “Thankfully, we don’t do the scheduling. All my team has to do is show up and make sure the women are beautiful and their hair is perfect for the camera!” Collopy said. “This is the third year we have styled their hair for the annual calendar.”

The images are shot against various backdrops throughout Cincinnati. Jim Stouffer of Columbus-based Stouffer’s Photography and Visations.com handles the photography and the design of the calendar.

“This year, Jim and Ben-Gals’ Director Charlotte Jacobs wanted a softer look for their hair,” Collopy said. “We are at arms’ length from the girls throughout the shoot, following Jim’s direction, making suggestions and making sure the hair stays just right.”

Perfections’ Color Director Angela Gatrell handled both the hair color and extension work. Drycutting Artist Cheyenne Wright assisted Collopy and worked solo on three of the models. Makeup was by Chenese Bean and Haneen Farhan. Photos of a day in the shoot itself are available on Perfections’ website (www.perfectionssalon.com) and Perfections’ Facebook page.

Ben-Gals’ calendars may be ordered by contacting director Charlotte Jacobs at charlotte.jacobs@pb.com or by calling 513-236-1643. The calendars are $20, including shipping.

By Rick Reilly
ESPN The Magazine
September 23, 2009

This column appears in the Oct. 5 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

If you’re going to make it in the Cowboys organization, you better cram like a sardine, because you’ll take written tests on everything from Cowboys history to Texas culture to world affairs.

The players don’t have to take any quizzes. If you’re 290 and can turn a running back into an oil stain, you could read at the equivalent of a mealworm and make it.

It’s the cheerleaders who get grilled like it’s Final Jeopardy. They take a nearly 100-question test during tryouts and are asked to name everything from the governor of Texas to a country that borders Iraq.

Remind me: What’s this got to do with pom-poms?

Tryout coordinator: “Amber, that was a terrific triple-twisting salchow, and landing in a split was a surprise, but I’m afraid you gagged on the cold-fusion question. Get out.”

“We want our cheerleaders to be knowledgeable and well-spoken in interviews,” says Cowboys cheerleading boss Kelli Finglass. “If they’re not, it’s a deal breaker.”

Cowboys players get interviewed every day. Shouldn’t they have to take it? “Well, their job description is winning football games,” Finglass says.

Riiiiight.

Besides, if Cowboys players had to pass the same quiz before they could make the team, many of them would be bouncers at Showgirls today.

Which is exactly why we gave it to them.

Why not? Why should the cheerleaders have to know more than the players? It’s not like anybody from Fox is going up to a cheerleader after the game, asking, “Incredible game! Where do you think it ranks in Cowboys history?”

We coerced 12 players into taking it. To their credit, they did it with good humor and open minds, just not always clever ones. Some examples:

Q: Name the Six Flags of Texas.

A very tough question. Only backup QB Jon Kitna nailed it. “Oh, my kids have been schooling me on this. Mexico, Spain, France, United States, Republic of Texas and the Confederacy. Thanks to my kids, I just learned that!” Nearly all 11 others thought it was an amusement park question. Need to get some kids.

Q: Name the two ex-Cowboys quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Everybody got it right except G Travis Bright, who answered Troy Aikman but forgot Roger Staubach, and S Pat Watkins, who answered, “Joe Namath and Troy Aikman.” Yep, who can forget ol’ Beltway Joe?

Q: Name a country that borders Iraq.

Ten of 12 got it right (Iran, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey), although WR Miles Austin and CB Orlando Scandrick said Afghanistan, which is about 750 miles away. Gotta at least pause at CNN once in a while, boys.

Q: Who is the governor of Texas?

This one was hopeless. Only TE Jason Witten and DE Marcus Spears got it right: Rick Perry. Interesting fact about the governor of Texas: He doesn’t have to take a quiz either.

Q: List three lean proteins.

“Like, foods?” asked LB Keith Brooking.

Uh, yes, foods.

“Tuna fish,” he tried. “I don’t know, man.”

Watkins replied, “Fish, chicken, duck.”

WR Sam Hurd listed, “Steak, chicken and pasta.”

Pasta? No. Some correct answers: fish, skinless poultry, lentils, beans, soy products and lean meats. Definitely not duck.

Q: In how many Super Bowls have the Dallas Cowboys appeared?

Pretty simple question, right? One that might come up in interviews, appearances, book signings? But only one player in 12 — Bright — answered correctly, with eight. Not to be harsh, but 70 percent of Texas schoolkids will get that one right.

Overall, some of the Cowboys would’ve flunked before they got to show off their herkies, except DE Marcus Spears. He nailed nearly every question. That figures. Spears, who went to LSU, says friends made fun of him back when he was a kid for getting good grades and being smart.

Me, if I were a Cowboy and things got crazy on the sideline this season and I had no idea what the coach just meant, I’d find Spears.

Or, better yet, a cheerleader.

Once again, our Bay-area correspondent Rex wrote in with a great update on the happenings in Northern California. Thanks Rex!

Last Sunday was the San Francisco 49ers’ opening day game against the Seattle Seahawks and boy, was the heat definitely on both off the field (it was crazy hot inside the stadium!) and on it as Frank Gore broke loose with two 75 yard touchdown runs and the 49ers beat the Seahawks 23-10.

Like the 49ers, the Gold Rush were also at the top of their game, with a lot of new faces appearing alongside fan favorites. The high temperatures in the stadium did nothing to curb their energy as they tirelessly entertained the Niners Faithful and cheered the team to victory. They also debuted their new alternate costume during the second half, with white shorts and a 49ers belt replacing the normal skirts they wear. I’m not sure if this was a one time deal or if the uniform will be permanent, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

My Gold Rush girl-of-the-game is Amy, a four year veteran who’s also a line captain this year. I really admired her energy and enthusiasm throughout the game; she gave both the team and her line 110% and constantly encouraged them to keep it going.

Amy

For more photos, please visit Rex’s photo collection.

The Chiefs have started posting photos from this season. So far, they’re in the regular photo section, not the special cheerleader photo section. You can see the first batch here.

While you’re at it, check out those new white uniforms. It looks like maybe they are working with the same company that did the Dolphins outfits. I guess fringe is the next big things in costume design!

Cheers through the years
By Kristy Brownlee
Sun Media
Sept. 21, 2009
[Photos]

Pompoms and kicks might be in the past for 50-year-old Judith Ellis. But she’s not letting go of her 1970s heyday cheering for the green and gold.

At Saturday’s Edmonton Eskimos home game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Ellis and about 350 past and present Esks cheerleaders will perform a 60-year reunion show.

“We are going to rise to the occasion no matter how many pounds we’ve gained,” said the spunky Ellis, a cheerleader from 1974 to 1980, now married with two teenage daughters.

Cheerleaders from each decade — 1950s to 2000s — will perform a number at the halftime show.

“We have our old costumes but nobody can fit into them anymore,” said Heather Sheremeta, 43, a cheerleader in 1987 and 1988, now married with three sons.

Former cheer team members and coaches are descending on Edmonton from as far away as Germany and Austria.

A banquet will welcome nearly 500 alumni on Friday evening to reminisce and relive memories with a slide show. A fashion show will also feature the former Eskimo cheer uniforms.

“So much has happened. We are able to share this with each other,” said Ellis.

Doctors told Ellis she would never walk again after a driver ran a red light and T-boned her station wagon in north Edmonton in 2001. Ellis broke her lower back in two places.

Now she’s back to dancing her heart out.

Head cheer team coach Diane Greenough, who’s coached Esks cheerleaders for 14 years, said the experience promises to be nostalgic.

“I’ve known some of these girls since they were 14. It’s been really special.”

Last season, the Jets Flight Crew debuted their new uniforms, designed by Marc Ecko. Freelance Art Director/Graphic Designer Nick Corey was involved in the process and explained it this way:

Marc was approached by the New York Jets to re-interpret and redesign the New York Jets Flight Crew uniforms. The concept was simply to pay homage to vintage air travel while keeping it fresh and new (Amelia Earhart x Gwen Stefani). I worked closely with Malia Sias to create a warm and cold weather uniform. We were also asked to art direct and shoot the new press photos for the 2008 squad.

Marc, Nick, Malia, and Flight Crew Director Denise Garvey put their heads together and debuted this sassy new look last fall. Click here for more photos and info about the designs.

[Click image to view full size]

Unfortunately, the costumes, as unique and cute as they were, were more conducive to personal appearances than game day performances. It looked like the Jets would have to go back to the drawing board on this one.

Yesterday, I found a set of photos from a recent Jets home game on Flickr. (Click here to view). It looks the Jets made a few design changes, did some useablity testing, and came back with something new for 2009. Ta-da!

[Click image to view full size]

I have my own theories about how this developed. One of the things that made last year’s unis complicated was the plethora of accessories. With the hat, belt, sunglasses, collar, scarf, cuffs, and gloves, there was a lot going on. They pared all of that down this time around. Basically, the only thing that stayed the same is the black button-front vest.

1. The first thing they did was ditch the hats. Those disappeared, I believe, after the first home game last year. NFL cheerleaders toss their hair a lot. Even an army-inspired garrison cap and a fist full of hairpins couldn’t withstand that kind of action.

2. The scarf had to go too. I bet that thing could whip a girl senseless by halftime on windy days.

3. Without the scarf, the collar didn’t make much sense. I suppose they could have gone with bow ties…
Nah. toss the collars.

4. Interestingly, although they scrapped the collar, they kept the cuffs and cufflinks, and added some extra bling for good measure.

5. They changed the white under-top. I don’t know why. Maybe it was uncomfortable. Maybe they had to find somewhere else to put the flight crew wings, now that the hat has gone the way of the dinosaur.
(I’ll tell you what, though. Every time I catch a glimpse of this top, for a second I think it says “WOW” across the front in fancy gold letters.)

6. They definitely had to address the skirt/bloomers situation. That skirt must have ridden up something awful last year, especially with the bloomers underneath. The new skirt has more stretch and regular green trunks underneath. They also added a couple of slits for freedom of movement. Well done!

7. They also made a few other miscellaneous changes. They fancied-up the belt and belt buckle and switched from black boots to white. There’s no sign of the sunglasses and gloves.

So….in short, they traded a bit of the WWII stewardess whimsy for something a bit more practical. What do you guys think?

It remains to be seen what – if anything – they’ve done to the jumpsuits they wore last winter. I am quite fond of the jumpsuits, so hopefully those haven’t changed much.

The NFL is doing a whole throwback deal to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original teams in the American Football League. Everyone’s going oldschool – including the cheerleaders. Last weekend, the Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders suited up in some of the old uniforms the dancers have worn over the team’s history.

Oh emm gee, y’all. You guys know how I feel about headbands. It’s like someone took a giant aerosol can and sprayed awesomeness all over the field.

I dug around and unearthed a few photos here, here, and here. Hopefully I will be able to find more. I heard some other teams were going vintage too, so I’m keeping my ear to the ground. If you guys find anything on the internet, be sure to let us know.

By Amy Brisson
September 20, 2009
Del Co Times

The minute Krystle Campbell stepped off a military plane in Kuwait, she was hit with an intense blast of hot, dry air and nearly 125-degree heat.

“It was like a blow dryer blowing on you, it was so hot,” she said.

In Campbell’s five years as a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles, the 23-year-old Glen Mills resident has traveled the world performing and modeling.

But going on a goodwill mission to Kuwait and Iraq this July was a completely different experience, she said.

It wasn’t glamorous, like the calendar shoot they did in Aruba this May. Or quite as upbeat as performing in a parade in Hong Kong.

In fact, Campbell said the six cheerleaders on the trip got a taste of real life on a military base, from wearing combat gear to sleeping in “The Can.”

“We were treated really well, they took really good care of us, but we were right in there in the mix,” she said. “Whenever there was a pretty severe sandstorm we were grounded and couldn’t move to the next place. And that’s when we really got to know the soldiers.”

Campbell described it as one of the most amazing experiences she has ever had, especially getting to see the day-to-day life of a soldier on the ground.

“They’re so brave for being over there. Some of them said they had been there for eight months and we were the first entertainment group to come over there,” she said.

An opportunity to go to Iraq was certainly not what Campbell expected when she first signed up for Eagles cheerleaders auditions.

A second-grade teacher at Nottingham Elementary in the Oxford School District, Campbell grew up dancing.

She was a member of the Parkside Academy of Music and Dance throughout high school, but stopped dancing when she began college.

But she remembered her dance teacher talking about trying out for a spot on the Eagles cheerleading squad, and after graduation the memory inspired her to get back into it.

“Dancing my whole life, it was just a next step for me,” she said. “It’s been a whole string of opportunities I would have never experienced without the Eagles. I’ve traveled all over the world.”

Campbell is not the only alum of Parkside Academy to join the squad.

A few years after she was picked, she convinced her friend, Kim Mellon, to give it a shot as well.

A Media resident, Mellon is a graduate of Sun Valley High School and currently works as a landscape architect at a company in Berwyn.

Mellon also stopped dancing when she began attending Penn State, but after hearing about Campbell’s experience, she decided to begin practicing again.

She attended tryouts on the sly, leading her college friends to think she was driving home for job interviews. Then she surprised them with news she had been accepted to the team.

“I surprised myself trying out for this. I knew it was a very busy schedule, and it would require a lot of time and effort,” she said.

But the biggest shock, she said, was when she realized just how famous she had suddenly become.

“I didn’t know that it had such a celebrity status with it,” said Mellon. She still keeps her cheerleader identity quiet when she goes out, so she can enjoy a “low-key” evening without requests for impromptu performances.

And even on the field, she was surprised that the cheerleaders get almost as much attention as the team.

“You can’t be too shy or timid, because there are definitely a lot of people out there watching from every angle,” she said.

But she said the scrutiny, and some very grueling workouts, are worth it to for the chance to perform at that level.

“Every game before we go out you get the butterflies in your stomach, but once you get out there it’s better,” she said. “Game days, there’s just so much excitement, I love going out there and performing for everybody.”