Fox Baltimore
November 19 2013
Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Amanda Ross was crowned “Miss Baltimore” on Sunday night. She will go on to compete for Miss Maryland in February and potentially Miss United States.
Miss United States is separate from Miss America or Miss USA.
Ross is the first-ever Miss Baltimore. She graduated from Long Reach High School and is a senior at Morgan State majoring in physical education. She says she wants to change the nationwide perception of Baltimore.
“My ultimate goal is talk to schools about bullying and crime prevention and anti-violence campaigns so that people don’t just see [Baltimore] as having a high crime rate or drug abuse,” Ross said. “I want people to also see how much arts and diversity and youth excellence we have here.”
It is Ross’ first year as a Ravens cheerleader.
Andy Brownfield
Cincinnati Business Courier
November 18, 2013
CincyTech is backing a former Ben-Gal in her efforts to make moms healthier.
The seed-stage tech investor is putting $250,000 into Skinny Mom, the brainchild of former fitness professional, Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader and mom Brooke Griffin.
Skinny Mom offers health and lifestyle content to mothers. It was born as a blog in 2011 after Griffin used her training to create a fitness and nutrition plan to lose the weight she had gained during pregnancy.
“The first month, we had 100,000 page views,” Griffin said in a news release, “so I guess it was something other moms were looking for, too.”
Today Skinny Mom pulls in more than 1 million unique visitors per month and has a social media and email reach of 500,000. The website employs eight full-time, and Griffin expects to pull in $200,000 in revenue this year.
The CincyTech investment, from its largest-ever Fund III, will allow Griffin to hire more writers, focus on e-commerce, develop a mobile app and enhance the brand.
“Brooke and her team are quickly building a market leading brand in the branding capital of the world,” CincyTech managing director of IT, software and health tech Mike Venerable said in a news release. “We are excited to continue our partnership with this additional investment. The Skinny Mom team consistently beats aggressive goals with ease. We expect great things from them in 2014.”
There are lots of new developments for MVC fans to check out. First off, the Vikings site has been updated with bigger profile photos, both headshots and full length, as well as photos of the captains and each of the small teams. (Click here.) In addition to that, we have a new photo of the 2013 MVC Training Program. And finally both the MVCs and the members of the training program performed for a big crowd at the team’s annual Holiday Show at the Mall of America. Visit the MVC page on facebook for excellent video from the show, as well as game day and rehearsal highlights. (Click here.)
2013 MVC Captains: Saral, Pam, Kaylee, Kristin, Missy, Karen
(Saral is MVC Glamour Captain, and the other ladies captain each of the five small teams)
Karen’s team: Jeanne, Lauryn, Saral, Karen, Rhea, Richelle, and Kayla W.
Kaylee’s team: Andrea, Blair, Samantha, Kaylee, Kaitlyn, Christina, and Melissa
Kristin’s team: Brooke, Kristy, Tracey, Kristin, Rachel, Starla, and Alissa
Missy’s team: Kelsey, Mollie, Jacqueline, Missy, Kayla C., Emily, and Kate
(Whoa! Mollie has gone back to being redhead)
Pam’s team: Michelle, Ali, Whitney, Pam, Danielle, Jackie, and Molly
Pam will also represent the MVC at the 2014 Pro Bowl, woot!
2013 MVC Training Program. Bookmark this page and come back and take a look in about 6 months. I guarantee some of these faces will be rookie MVCs. I’ll have to get the names so we can keep score come spring!
Click here for week 7, click here for week 8, click here for week 9, and click here for week 10.
Lots of photos with some halloween action, some pink action, and some vintage action! Click here for week 8, here for week 9, and herefor week 10.
This season the Bucs cheerleaders have had occasion to whip out various parts of their old uniforms. These tops were only worn during the 2003-04 NFL season. This is probably the first time they’ve seen the light of day since. I have no idea why they wore these, but I’m glad they did. They are super-cute.
By Bob McGinn
The Journal Sentinel
Novmber 1, 2013
Green Bay — It has been almost 30 years since the Green Bay Packers outfitted an official cheerleading squad in contemporary attire and had its members support the team in games at Lambeau Field and Milwaukee County Stadium.
The Packers got out of the cheerleading business in January 1987 and have no intentions of getting back in.
Instead, management will continue the practice of using a total of 15 to 20 cheerleaders from nearby St. Norbert College and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay that has been in effect since the mid-1990s.
“Most of us feel the college cheerleaders fit with the image we want to project,” Packers President Mark Murphy said Friday. “It’s wholesome. I hear mostly good things about our cheerleaders from fans. I think they find it kind of quaint, to be honest.”
The collegiate cheerleaders dress in modest uniforms supplied by the Packers.
Green Bay is one of six franchises in the National Football League without an official squad. The cheerleading units for the other 26 teams often have been described as eye candy on the sidelines.
The Packers tried that to a degree in the early-to-mid 1980s after their Green Bay Sideliners were given more provocative garb, including go-go boots and short shorts.
“They were attractive,” said Bob Harlan, the club’s president before his retirement in 2007. “We dressed them not daringly, but they were fancier than the college cheerleaders, obviously. We did change their outfits as the seasons went along.
“We didn’t think we could compete with the Cowboys, but we thought we wanted to at least try to add some atmosphere. Our fans let us know they didn’t want us to be parading girls out there looking like the Dallas cheerleaders. And that was never our intention.”
It’s possible, according to Harlan, that the Packers still could have an official squad were it not for the internal bickering that led to disbandment of the Sideliners after the 1986 season.
“It might have been the type of program we might have kept in existence and maybe turned over to our marketing department,” Harlan said.
Shirley Van, the cheerleading director who ran a dance studio in Green Bay, and many team members came to be at each other’s throats.
“The relationship was getting worse by the day,” Harlan said. “It just was not worth keeping. So we finally just shut it down.”
At the same time, the front office deep-sixed the career of Packy Packer, who had a brief stint as the club’s official mascot.
In January 1989, Harlan and staffers met with three groups seeking approval to resurrect a cheerleading team. The Packers told them no, and it became a dead issue after that.
In an informal locker-room poll Friday, four players favored the status quo while three preferred a return to official cheerleaders.
“I think our fans are unique in that they don’t need a big circus atmosphere,” said tight end Ryan Taylor. “Because they’re football purists and enjoy the game as is.
“I don’t know that it would add anything. There are other teams that want to put on more of a show, I suppose, because they’re worried about selling tickets. There’s another team in our division that feels it has to put on a show.”
Taylor had to be referring to Minnesota because Chicago and Detroit don’t have cheerleaders.
Cornerbacks Tramon Williams and Micah Hyde plus defensive end Datone Jones enjoy game day as is in the NFL’s smallest city.
“I thought those were our pro cheerleaders, I really did,” Jones said. “When I’m out there I’m not really engaged with the cheerleaders. But I saw tradition and love the way the whole atmosphere is.”
On the other hand, some players think professional cheerleading would play well at Lambeau Field.
“I would definitely like to see it go down to five with Green Bay adding a team, yes,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers. “I think it’d be great.
“Take the last home game, for example. They showed a couple cheese bikini-clad women in the stands and the fans went nuts. The ‘Bikini Girls’ in general, I don’t know if they’ve shown pictures of them yet on the Jumbotron, but they’re a big hit.
“I’m all for it. No offense to the (college) girls. They do a great job.”
Defensive end B.J. Raji said he was “shocked” upon arrival in 2009 to find out the Packers had no official cheerleading squad, something he regards as “synonymous with the game of football.”
Raji and tight end Andrew Quarless said a more sleek approach to cheerleading would only enhance the experience for fans.
“First of all, it would give some females job opportunities in the area,” said Quarless. “I think it would make it feel more NFL-like.
“Not to say that they don’t do a great job. They do, and they do it for nothing.”
The Packers began using cheerleaders from city high schools as early as 1931. Under Vince Lombardi, the Packers started their first official squad in the late 1950s, and the name went from Packerettes to Golden Girls, and then back to Packerettes.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys and general manager Tex Schramm debuted their cheerleaders in 1972. It brought sex appeal and jazz dancing to the sidelines, and shortly thereafter many teams began to follow suit.
Today, 10 of the 26 teams with cheerleaders have names for their squads, from “Jills” in Buffalo to “Saintsations” in New Orleans and “Sea Gals” in Seattle.
Murphy indicated that some teams benefit significantly from the allure of their cheerleaders by increased page hits on their web sites to sales of swimsuit and even lingerie calendars.
“Not to be critical of anybody,” said Murphy, “but you look at what some of the other teams do with their cheerleaders and I just don’t think we’d feel comfortable doing some of those things.
“I have heard complaints about our cheerleaders: ‘What do they bring? Why don’t we get modern cheerleaders? Look at all the other teams and how they use them.’
“But more (fans) say this really fits in our image in Green Bay and what we want to portray.”
SILENCED CHEERS
Five NFL teams besides the Green Bay Packers have no official cheerleading squads. All six teams are in cold-weather locations. The only dome team is Detroit. Cleveland, which joined the NFL in 1950, is the least tenured of the franchises.
CHICAGO: The Bears have no cheerleaders. In the late 1970s to early 1980s, they had a unit called the “Honey Bears.”
CLEVELAND: The Browns have no cheerleaders and new owner Jimmy Haslam is against ever having them. Owner Art Modell experimented with cheerleaders way back, but the cavernous size of old Cleveland Stadium and the extreme cold ended that.
“We had them one year,” Pat Modell, his wife, once said. “They looked crazy. It was ridiculous.”
In recent years the Browns tried high school cheerleaders but the practice was discontinued by Haslam.
DETROIT: The Lions had a traditional squad at Tiger Stadium in the 1960s, and then used different high school troupes during its stay at the Pontiac Silverdome from 1975-2001. They have had no cheerleaders at Ford Field.
NEW YORK GIANTS: Other than a brief trial in the early 1960s, the Giants haven’t had cheerleaders.
“Philosophically, we have always had issues with sending scantily clad women out on the field to entertain our fans,” Giants co-owner John Mara told the New York Times in 2010.
He added: “Some teams are comfortable with not only having cheerleaders but selling cheerleader swimsuit calendars or, in a couple cases, lingerie calendars. It’s not something you’re going to see the Giants do. Not while I’m around, anyway.”
PITTSBURGH: Other than a four- or five-year period in the late 1950s when cheerleading squads from Robert Morris University appeared at games, the Steelers have not had cheerleaders.
Esme Ojeda
City Beat Magazine
Oct 27, 2013
It all began with a funeral. Richard Rivera Jr., CEO of CBE Artist Management Company, was working and living in Los Angeles when he received the news that his grandmother in El Paso had passed away. Within the month, his other grandmother had passed away as well. Rivera then took some time off and flew down to El Paso help his family deal with the situation and help pick up the pieces.
During his stay here in El Paso, he was invited to an event at a local pizza place. It was a party sponsored by the El Paso Diablo Diamond Girls. “I was in shorts, and a pink cabana shirt, and I stood out like a sore thumb,” recalled Rivera. “The event was very disorganized. To be honest, the pizza place didn’t even care that these girls were there.”
Rivera then began to talk to the girls. He took the opportunity to talk with the girls about his company, CBE Management, and began to discuss the nuts and bolts of the entertainment company, and what his company does for talented individuals. “I found out that not only did these girls not get paid, they had to pay for their uniforms. All they got from the Diablos was a patch, some kind of emblem. It was basically volunteer work.” He dug a little deeper and found out that most of the girls were very educated. “Most of them had degrees, and they were working two jobs, just so they could keep doing what they loved to do. They’re trying to get to this next level of success, but they’re being capped off because there’s no other road. This supposed ‘dance team’ was not giving them what they needed to get to that next level.”
One of the girls then asked Rivera, “How much do I have to pay you?” Rivera said, “Right then and there, I knew that something was wrong. The entertainment business model here in El Paso is: We will promise you the world, we will deliver on zero, and we will use you to our advantage. I knew something had to change. These girls had the drive, but they just didn’t have the direction.”
It was then that Rivera had the idea that would later turn into the Sun City Girls. “I realized that there was a marketplace here in El Paso for talent management, and I knew I could do something substantial for the city. So I talked with some people back in LA that I trusted, and they said, if I can pair these girl with some brands, not only can I pay them, but this could be something real, what it’s supposed to be. From then on, what was just an idea became a reality.”
CBE Management Company was started back in 2009. Rivera explained, “What we do is that we help guide talent to become the best that they can become. We are not an agent, but a sort of stepping stone to an agent. We are a business manager. We focus on actors and models. We’re a commission based company, so we don’t make any money unless our clients do.” Rivera warned that the Entertainment Industry is not as glamorous as it sounds. “I’m on the phone with casting directors all day long. My clients are competing with 30,000 other hopefuls in LA, and not everyone is going to want our client. You need drive, passion, but more importantly commitment. We don’t want a pretty face, or even talent. What we want more is commitment.”
Veronica Rojas is the Vice President of CBE Management Company. Although Rivera and Rojas run CBE, their main focus in the Sun City Girls. Rojas was Rivera’s right hand man in making the Sun City Girls become a reality. While Rivera was in LA, Rojas was here in El Paso doing business and trying to get this new idea off the ground. A native El Pasoan, Rojas was Rivera’s key to the city, letting him know what the marketplace was here and whether a professional dance team could work here in El Paso. After a year and half of scouting the marketplace incognito, Rojas determined it was time to launch this new dance team. Rivera then moved to El Paso, making the Sun City Girls his main focus. Rojas said, “The quality of life is definitely changing here in El Paso. And I think its time that El Paso had something to show for it. I believe a Professional Dance Team is exactly what El Paso needs.”
In July, CBE announced that they would be holding auditions for the Sun City Girls. Rivera explained the tough road that the girls had to follow. “We had about 150 girls audition. There was only 32 spots, 16 team members, and 16 alternates. After we selected the 32, we put them through a dance training camp and a boot camp. We made them train at 5:30 A.M., every morning. That helped weed out the girls that weren’t committed enough.”
Rivera said that at the beginning, all the girls were excited. “They all wanted to be on top. But the second they had to do the work, that was the hairline fracture that separated those who wanted it, and those who didn’t. As the training process went along, some began dropping out. These girls had never seen anything like this before.”
“In LA, these girls come off the conveyer belt, ready to take that spot. Here in El Paso, not so much,” said Rivera. “When the girls found out that they might not make the team, they began dropping like flies.”
Even when the girls were chosen for the top spots, it still wasn’t guaranteed. They had only signed non-disclosure agreements up to that point. When Rivera finally gave them the 15 page contract that would make it official, the girls were overwhelmed because they had never seen anything like that before.
Rojas said they had to explain everything in the contract, detail by detail. “We had to really make them understand what these girls were getting into. It was a long process. It was exciting because afterward, they felt relieved to be part of this company.” And for not being exposed to this type of professionalism, Rojas said the girls are adapting very well. Rojas said, “They’re doing a tremendous job. It’s incredible because not many girls would sacrifice to be here every morning at 5 in the morning.”
Rivera stressed to the girls that they are not only representing CBE Management, but they are now representing the City of El Paso. “We even made them take down all their social media. No Facebook, no Twitter, no anything. They represent a professional company. Think of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and prestige that comes with being part of it. That is what the Sun City Girls are for El Paso. They are professional athletes.”
Rojas also added that they don’t want any surprise party photos ending up online. “We explained that they have to learn how to conduct themselves because they represent El Paso. As ugly as it sounds, people will be judging these girls. As soon as they step out of their house in the morning, they have to be ‘on’.”
Rivera added that Sun City Girls represent the All-American Girl. “We believe in the American Dream, that if you work hard, you can achieve anything. We want our girls to represent that: the well rounded All-American Girl. We even have the flag on their uniforms, because we want to give homage to our Country, to Ft. Bliss. We might not be solders, but we are American, and we want to represent that as best as we can.”
Rivera and Rojas said that they want the Sun City Girls to be great role models. They specifically looked for girls that had leadership skills because they want little girls to be able to look up to the Sun City Girls. Rivera added, “Everyone in the family can be proud of these girls. Mom, Dad, Grandma, they’re all going to be proud. El Paso is going to be proud. We are El Paso’s team.”
Rivera is proud that the Sun City Girls are bringing a level of professionalism that El Paso has never seen before. “Before, a photographer would take photos of a model for free, and just give her a CD with photos. But technically, he owns that image. The model is then being used and not making any money off it. We want that to change. People in El Paso need to know that that’s not how the Entertainment Industry works. And by showing these girls how it should be, they will begin to hold people in El Paso to higher standards. And that’s how we plan to raise the bar here in El Paso.”
Although the Sun City Girls haven’t been officially revealed, they are already getting plenty of publicity. On the Sun City Girls Website, there is a countdown, counting down the days until the city of El Paso will meet their new Dance Team. Rivera said that for now, the Sun City Girls will be performing for the El Paso Rhinos. He did not want to say what else they will be doing, but that all will be revealed in time.
“We just started. We’re in year one, and we’re still baking. We don’t want to commit to anything until we know that our product is ready. But I’ve gotten so much feedback already, so I know the Sun City Girls will be exactly what the city needs,” said Rivera.
To learn more about The Sun City Girls, about the countdown, or about CBE Artist Management Company L.L.C, visit www.thesuncitygirls.com.
Kylee Visser
Eric Woodyard
Mlive.com
October 30, 2013
AUBURN HILLS, MI – Professional basketball players aren’t the only athletes who arrive at the Palace of Auburn Hills on game nights to perform. A day in the life of a Detroit Pistons dancer can be just as stressful as those of the NBA guys.
It’s a career choice in which glamor matches talent, with the women constantly under scrutiny for their appearance and for their ability to rock a crowd by busting dope moves. It’s lights, camera, action when these 21 women arrive early for rehearsals to dance in front of up to 22,076 fans in one of the NBA’s largest arenas.
Sasha Cole, Kylee Visser and Nichole Josey are three Pistons dancers from the Flint area.
They balance the tough dancer lifestyle with normal, day-to-day activities such as going to school but most people don’t recognize that. A successful NBA dancer possesses more than good looks. The same regimen and execution that is required of the Pistons to compete on the hardwood is also expected of the dancers to entertain ticket holders at halftimes and through timeouts.
“It makes me mad when people say that we’re not athletes, because we have to stretch and I’ve been to the chiropractor because I have arthritis in my knee,” said Flint native Sasha Cole, captain of the Pistons Dance Team. “We have to work out, we train hard and we put in just as much practice and time as the basketball players. We’re good at what we’re good at and they’re good at what they’re good at. There’s some things that we do that they could never do and vice versa. I consider the dance team a sport, for sure.”
Cole, 22, lives in Flint and is heading into her third season with the Pistons, her fifth in the NBA.
She worked in California with the Sacramento Kings for two years before returning to Michigan to dance for the Pistons in 2011. As team captain, Cole is the leader who bears the bulk of responsibility, but likes to keep the mood light. She also keeps a flexible enough schedule to mentor any girls that may need advice, including Visser and Josey, both rookies this season.
“Sasha came from the Kings, so she already had that little flavor from Cali. Definitely since she’s came on our team we do have a lot of different ways of putting things,” said Detroit Pistons dance director Natalie Miramontes. “I know she’s advanced and she’s one of my best dancers, for sure. She gives 100 percent every single time she’s at practice and she’s my role model as a dancer to everybody. I kind of compare everybody to her, which is hard when she’s out there because she’s very powerful and that’s why her nickname’s ‘Fierce.'”
A typical work week for Cole, Visser, Josey and the other girls is different.
Visser and Josey are both senior college students, but Cole dedicates the majority of her time to dancing and chilling with her dog, when she’s not serving at a sports bar.
Visser, 22, graduated from Kearsley High School in 2009 and now attends Oakland University where she’s working toward a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in public relations. Josey, 21, is a 2010 Flint Powers grad who is expected to graduate from the University of Michigan-Flint in May with a communication degree and a focus in media. Although the NBA season is in its early stages, both rookies have been taken aback by the amount of time that this job requires. The job description didn’t do it any justice.
“The most surprising thing for me is just really how much work really goes into it,” said Josey. “A lot of the fans probably just see us on the court and see us making it look effortless but really we’re practicing a lot and they aren’t aware of all of the back work.”
The pay isn’t enormous but the girls don’t mind grinding it out in the long rehearsals at least three times per week to perfect dance routines for Pistons home games, with maximum exposure. On game days, the girls sit on the sidelines and never stop moving. They’re constantly smiling, tossing gifts, performing at least twice during timeouts and at halftime on some nights with the Palace’s celebrity guests.
Visser doesn’t mind sacrificing study time to fulfill her lifelong dream and makes the short commute from her spot in Rochester to Auburn Hills. She began learning a variety of different dance styles at a young age in the Academy Day La Danse studio in Davison and has always dreamed of working with the Pistons ever since.
“I actually was on the (Detroit) Shock’s dance team, the Shock Wave, back in the day when I was in high school in the year they won the WNBA championship,” Visser said. “(Flint native) Deanna Nolan was my favorite player. We used to practice with the Pistons dance team then and I’ve always came to their clinics as a child, so I’ve been dancing since I was 3 and after going to the clinics and practices it was always a dream for me to do this.”
With so much access to the NBA players on a regular basis, it’s hard to imagine that the girls are able to resist the opportunity to date some of the league’s top stars but Cole, Visser and Josey don’t get star-struck by the ballers. They never mix business with pleasure. In the dance world, that’s a complete no-no – plus it’s in their contracts to refrain from going out with the fellas.
“They’re like coworkers and almost like brothers because we know so much about them,” Cole explained. “We see them and we even know what shoes they wear. It’s just like any job. You don’t mingle with your work and it’s the same here. We’re so busy that we don’t even have regular boyfriends, period.”
The local Flint-area dancers are a piece of the big puzzle composed of 18- to 25-year old women that’s becoming one of the NBA’s most exciting young squads. The future looks bright.
“This team is a lot different style than any other NBA team,” Miramontes said. “We get away with a lot more. We get to do the hip-hop and the diversity of things and other teams aren’t as versatile. This team is free to do whatever we want and that’s why I love this team.”
By David Satriano
New York Post
October 31, 2013
When John Tavares skates in on a breakaway and roofs a goal top shelf at Nassau Coliseum, he has the Ice Girls to thank.
The 12 women who make up the Islanders Ice Girls team ensure the ice is clean of snow and debris every game, so Tavares and his teammates have a clear surface on which to play.
“As a team, we’re required to clean the ice three times a period in 90 seconds or less,” said Ashleen, who has been an Ice Girl for three seasons. “Ninety seconds may seem like a very long time, however when you’re clearing the ice, having to go around players and refs, making sure you do not miss anything, it can get a little hectic.”
The work the Ice Girls do can’t be seen on TV, but from the stands on Long Island, it becomes clear see how good they are at their craft, even sweeping the ice in synchronization. So how does one become an Ice Girl?
“Most of our audition is on ice,” said Christi, a five-year Ice Girl veteran. “Our coach, Linda, will ask us to do crossovers, T-stops, lunges, spirals, and those types of things, then there’s an interview before you go back on the ice and skate with the [Islanders] flags and some of the shovels.
“About six years ago in December, I came to an Islanders game with my friends and I saw all the ice girls on the ice. They were playing games with the fans and they wore Christmas outfits, and I thought it looked like so much fun that I decided then I wanted to do it.”
In addition to cleaning the ice, the Ice Girls take part in activities during the game around the Coliseum and make approximately 200 appearances throughout the community each year.
“You might see us running around selling raffle tickets, making appearances, doing fan interactions, making announcements on the jumbotron,” Ashleen said. “My favorite part is dancing and getting the crowd into the game.”
There were a fair share of quiet nights at the Coliseum prior to last season. But the Islanders’ resurgence and playoff appearance last spring made it a happening place to be with sellout crowds of more than 16,000.
“My favorite memory was last year when we were about to get into the playoffs, just feeling the stadium shaking from everyone cheering for the Islanders and feeling all of the fans energy,” Christi said. “It was such an exciting feeling and to get to be a part of that was something amazing.”
The troupe started 13 years ago, when the NHL mandated ice-removal personnel know how to skate. Since then, the Ice Girls have become almost as popular as the Islanders themselves. Fans take pictures with them and sometimes ask for autographs.
“Back in 2001, we started with four girls. That year, we struggled just to get four girls who could skate and make the time commitment and be a part of the team — and now as we’re in our 13th year, we have 12 girls on the squad,” said Tim Beach, vice president of Game Operations and Events. “And now when we have our auditions during the summer, we’re happy to say that we actually have to turn away really good skaters and really the program has evolved.
“To this day, we get calls from other teams asking us: ‘Who makes the uniforms for you guys?’ and ‘How do you do this with the girls? How do you get them to participate in this?’ ” Beach said. “Our program has become a model throughout the NHL.”
And the Ice Girls are much more than pretty faces. Christi is finishing her final year of law school and does voiceover work for a radio station. Ashleen is getting her Master’s in special education, a certification in American sign language, and works for a physical therapist and in a school district.
Both are also avid hockey fans — they root for the Islanders, of course — which makes this a dream job.
“My favorite memory was my first game,” Ashleen said. ”As a New York Islanders fan my whole life, being able to apply my skating and work with the team I had supported since I was young…stepping onto the ice for the first time was a surreal feeling and it really showed the joy I knew I was going to have from this job.”
