Atlanta Journal Constitution
April 24, 2016
FLOWERY BRANCH – A total of 60 women advanced to the finals from the Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader tryouts held on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
Nearly 150 women tried out for the squad.
Longtime Falcons cheer coordinator Chato Hendrix and choreographer Jakene Ashford led the auditions.
The finals will be held on Wednesday and the team will select the Atlanta Falcons 2016 cheerleading squad.
[Click here to see the finalists]
by Drew Engelbart
Fox31 (Denver)
April 24, 2016
DENVER — The 2016 Broncos cheerleading squad was introduced in front of a packed house Sunday night.
The roster consists of 16 veterans and 10 rookies. The final auditions took place at the University of Denver’s Gates Concert Hall. The seating capacity is about 1,000 and nearly every seat was full as the cheerleaders put on a show for the fans.
Natalie is a student at the University of Colorado and can now call herself a Broncos cheerleader.
“It’s been a dream of mine for a long time,” she said. “I was a Junior Denver Broncos cheerleader and I was just told that I am the first junior cheerleader turned big cheerleader, so it’s been a dream of mine since I was 6 years old,” she said.
Kate made the squad for the fourth season in a row, and she said the feeling never gets old.
“It feels amazing every time,” she said. “You know how amazing this team is and you want it that much more every year.”
Now that auditions are complete, next up is the famous swimsuit calendar photo shoot in Mexico.
Christina, making her eighth Broncos Cheerleaders squad, has set a team record.
Ben Swanson
DenverBroncos.com
April 25, 2016
[Watch the Videos]
[Photos from Finals]
DENVER — The Broncos players are back preparing for the 2016 season, and the team’s cheerleading squad has done the same, finishing up their auditions to narrow down their list of 48 finalists to the final team.
New seasons bring new, talented dancers to the tryouts, and that adds competition for the cheerleaders who are looking to return to the team for another season. What’s unique about this year’s tryouts, though, is that one dancer set a team record with her eight time making the cheerleading squad.
“I’m very excited and very honored to be back for an eighth season,” Christina said. “It never gets easier. It actually gets harder every single year trying to earn your spot back and there are so many incredibly talented women that try out every year, so I’m just very humbled and excited to be back.”
Over the past eight years, she’s seen the squad evolve in some ways and stick to its same prestige at the same time.
“It evolves with women every year, but the legacy is the same,” Christina said. “The program that [former Broncos Director of Cheerleaders] Teresa Shear started and then [current Director of Cheerleaders] Shawna [Peters] has done an amazing job of carrying it on. It has the same roles; it has the same legacy to it and I just feel like each year it’s a brand new group of amazing women that just carry on that legacy.”
While Christina continues her historic run with the Broncos cheerleaders, some select women are just beginning theirs, like one rookie, Sydney.
“Every audition process is tough. I respect any woman who goes and puts herself out there and goes through this whole week of routines and choreography,” she said. “It’s hard on your body and it’s hard on your mind, but the tough ones stick it out, and I just have so much respect for anyone who auditions for any team.”
Now that her entrance onto the team is secured, Sydney is excited to get to the most thrilling part of the gig on game day.
“I am looking forward to walking out of that tunnel when there’s Broncos players running through the middle, and just performing on the sidelines for the best fans in America.”
Final auditions took place last night and a team of 33 dancers was chosen to represent the Seahawks this upcoming season. Of the 22 veterans, two return to the squad after being cut from auditions in previous years. Way to go Jalanda and Michelle. Now that’s tenacity! Woot!
Click here to see who else made the team!
[Video: 2016 Sea Gals Finals – Introduction ]
[Video: 2016 Sea Gals Finals – Group 1]
[Video: 2016 Sea Gals Finals – Group 2]
[Video: 2016 Sea Gals Finals – Group 3]
[Video: 2016 Sea Gals Finals – Group 4]
[Video: 2016 Sea Gals Finals – Group 5]
[Video: 2016 Sea Gals Finals – Group 6]
[Video: 2016 Sea Gals Finals – Squad Announcement]
Redbook magazine is running it’s 3rd annual “Real Women Style Awards” contest. Readers were asked to submit their best, most stylish photo for the chance to be on the cover of the magazine. Six women will front the September issue, as a homage to real women (not celebrities, not models) who are stylish in their everyday lives. Redbook narrowed the entries down to 25 finalists, and has opened the competition up for public voting.
One of the ladies in the running is wife, mother, educator, former Sacramento Kings Dancer and former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Sasha Agent. With almost 17,500 votes (as of right now), she is on the leader board, but every last vote helps. Click here to see the finalists and vote for your favorite. Voting is open until May 10. You can vote once each day.
WARNING: There are TWO Sasha in the running. This is Sasha Agent:
Sasha was a Sacramento Kings Dancer for four seasons (2001-2005)
Sasha was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader for two seasons (2010-12)
Twenty-eight talented ladies beat out 400 to make the Los Angeles Rams cheerleading squad
By Ashley Collman
Dailymail.com
April 18, 2016
[Watch the video (scroll to bottom)]
* Final try-outs for the Los Angeles Rams cheerleading squad took place on Sunday at the Forum arena
* Twenty-eight women made the team from 66 finalists who were called in for an interview, swimsuit contest and dance performance
* The audition process began back on April 2 when around 400 women turned out to try out
* The 2016-2017 season marks the first time the Rams will be back in their original city of Los Angeles
* From 1995 until 2015, St. Louis was the Rams host city
Dozens of primped and polished ladies put their best faces forward on Sunday, to compete in the final round of try-outs for the Los Angeles Rams cheerleading team.
The 66 women who made it to the last round spend the evening wowing the judges in the swimsuit competition, dance performance and final interview at the Forum arena in Inglewood.
In the end, 28 women were selected to join the squad – the first to be back in Los Angeles since the Rams moved to St. Louis for 20 years in 1995.
‘I was so excited. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I started crying and I think I hit myself in the face,’ one of the new cheerleaders told KCAL.
Newly chosen Los Angeles Rams cheerleaders celebrate after receiving their team jackets during final auditions for the cheerleading squad in Los Angeles, California on April 17
Newly chosen Los Angeles Rams cheerleaders celebrate after receiving their team jackets during final auditions for the cheerleading squad in Los Angeles, California on April 17
Former Rams player and pro-Football Hall of Fame member Marshall Faulk was part of the five-man, four-woman panel that selected the final team.
Lisa Estrada, vice president of entertainment and facilities for the Los Angeles Lakers, and John Peters, Rams cheer choreographer, also helped in making the final decision.
Auditions for the team started on April 2, when 400 women turned out to try-out for the team at the Galen center.
For the following two weeks, the scores of women went through preliminary auditions, professional interviews and dance rehearsals.
The Rams NFL football team is returning to Los Angeles for the 2016 season after having left the city along with the Los Angeles Raiders after the 1994 season
The Rams NFL football team is returning to Los Angeles for the 2016 season after having left the city along with the Los Angeles Raiders after the 1994 season
Try-outs started April 2, and included more than 400 women. By the final auditions on Sunday, just 66 women were left
During final tryouts on Sunday, the women showed off their talents in a swimsuit contest, dance performance and interview.
Los Angeles Rams cheerleader hopeful Sativa M. performs during the swimsuit portion of the squad’s final auditions on Sunday (she later made the team).
On the right, Newly chosen Los Angeles Rams cheerleader Samantha O. is greeted by former Rams cheerleaders.
Los Angeles Rams cheerleader hopeful Gaebri A. performs during the swimsuit portion of the squad’s final auditions. Gaebri did not make the team.
Los Angeles Rams cheerleader hopefuls perform during the dance portion of the squad’s final auditions in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Newly chosen Los Angeles Rams cheerleader Stephanie E. is greeted by former Rams cheerleaders and the team’s mascot after the cheerleading squad’s final auditions on Sunday.
Newly chosen Los Angeles Rams cheerleader Micki J. is greeted by former Rams cheerleaders and the team’s mascot after the final auditions in Los Angeles, California, USA, 17 April 2016
Newly chosen Los Angeles Rams cheerleader Jennifer P. is greeted by former Rams cheerleaders and the team’s mascot after the final auditions for the cheerleading squad in Los Angeles, California, USA, 17 April 2016.
Los Angeles Rams cheerleader hopeful Michelle S. performs during the dance portion of the squad’s final auditions on Sunday. Michelle later made the team.
‘They only cheer one day a week. Those other six days they have to carry around those horns and make sure they are just as respectable off the field as they are on the field,’ Faulk said.
In addition to cheering at games, NFL cheerleaders are also required to carry out 1,500 hours of community service each year, and take part in other team appearances and rehearse. They also pose for the annual Rams Cheerleading Swimsuit Calendar and Rams Cheer Poster.
Recently, several cheerleading squads have lodged lawsuits against their teams for wage theft.
In one lawsuit, filed by the Oakland Raiders cheerleaders, it was claimed that they were being paid less than $5 an hour when all of their time was accounted for.
Cheerleading teams for the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have also filed similar lawsuits.
Four of these lawsuits have been settled with teams agreeing to pay out a combined $2.5million in back wages, while admitting no wrong doing.
The Raiders are now paying their cheerleaders minimum wage.
Newly chosen Los Angeles Rams cheerleaders celebrate after receiving their team jackets during the final auditions for the cheerleading squad.
The 28-woman crew will perform at games, as well as take part in 1,500 hours of community service.
Read more:
More videos here.
Local 10 News meterologist Julie Durda among judges
By Sanela Sabovic – Reporter
Local10.com
April 23, 2016
DAVIE, Fla. – Hundreds of young women danced their hearts out in Davie Saturday morning in hopes of becoming a Miami Dolphins cheerleader for the upcoming football season.
Among them was Nicole, a 41-year-old who never gave up on her cheerleading dreams.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” Nicole said. “This is actually my seventh time trying out.”
The cheerleaders and dancers prepared for months to compete in front of judges.
“It would be a dream come true to be on this team and be on it for years,” Ally said.
One of the judges this year was Local 10 News meteorologist Julie Durda, who is a former San Francisco 49ers cheerleader.
“I’m honored to be one of the many judges that are going to be judging these talented, beautiful women behind me,” Durda said.
This year’s auditions are a bit different than in previous years, as the Dolphins organization went looking around the world for cheerleader hopefuls.
Competitors came from places such as Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia.
“We’re the only team in the NFL that could really do this and make it authentic, because it is authentic,” Dorie Grogan, a senior director of entertainment for the Dolphins, said. “It’s who we are. It’s our culture here in Miami, and we are excited to be the first in the NFL to do this.”
For Nicole, tryouts aren’t about age, but about reaching for a long time goal.
“I just have to continue to convince myself to keep coming back, even though sometimes I think, ‘I’m crazy. Oh my God. I’m 41. What am I doing out here?'” Nicole said. “Literally, these girls are, like, the age of my daughter, but I’m just like, ‘I’m just going to do it anyway.'”
The Renton Reporter
April 22, 2016
The top 55 candidates from a pool of 200 women will compete on Sunday for a spot on the 2016 Sea Gals squad and the final auditions will be streamed live on the internet.
Live coverage of the event will begin at 5 p.m. on www.SeaGals.com and facebook.com/Seagals.
The webcast will be hosted by Seahawks Legend Jordan Babineaux and Sea Gals alum Sheila and include performances by all the finalists, features and the naming of the 2016 Sea Gals squad.
Melissa DeChello (Photo provided by the New England Patriots)
WTNH.com
April 22, 2016
HAMDEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A life-long Patriots fan from Hamden will now get to attend every game as she cheers for the team on the sidelines.
For Melissa DeChello, it’s a no-brainer. The Hamden-native has been dancing and teaching dance for years.
This fall, she’ll be cheering for one of the elite teams in pro football.
“This was my very first NFL tryout, so really Patriots was my only choice,” said DeChello.
The New England Patriots.
“It’s a really incredible organization, they obviously do really well. They’ve been in the Super Bowl multiple times and it’s really close to me,” said DeChello.
Melissa, who attends the University of New Haven, joins roughly three-dozen other women who made it through a grueling tryout process.
“It was really draining on the body, we had some fitness portions where we had a trainer come in and do hour-long intense workouts with us, so that was a lot to go through,” said DeChello.
Now, they’ll practice a couple days a week. There are promotional appearances for the team, and then on Sunday, it’s Game Day.
You can bet all of her friends and family will be rooting for her, but maybe not for her team.
“I’ve always been a Patriots fan, my brother has always been a Cowboys fan. So we get along, we don’t really let that affect us,” said DeChello.
Sidebar: Melissa is a former Westchester Knicks Dancer
