CFL Argonauts Cheer Alumni Set to Take Field in October

2012 Argo Alumni, on the field, just after the performance

On October 24th, 100+ Alumni Cheerleaders of the CFL Toronto Argonauts Football Club will take the field for a spectacular halftime show! Rehearsals begin next month for this special performance.

Alongside members of the 2013 Argos Cheerleaders, and alongside the Argos Sunshine Girls squad (the cheerleaders from past years up to 1995), the recent Alumni (from 1996 through to 2012 seasons) are preparing a special routine for their portion of the show. Choreographer Rochelle Stultz is designing an exciting routine reflective of these team years on the squad. The recent Argos Alumni Cheerleaders are celebrating 3 years participating in this special performance, which is also done as part of the Argos’ ‘Pink’ game for Breast Cancer Awareness. It is a great showing of team spirit for a good cause.

The CFL Toronto Argonauts are the 100th Grey Cup Champions and the longest running professional football club in North America. The Argos Cheerleader Alumni were also involved in festivities last November, when Canada’s 100th Grey Cup was hosted right at home, in Toronto.

CFL and NFL Alumni Cheerleader, Elizabeth Morgan, will be sending us updates from the Alumni squad as they near Game Day.

Quick – Someone Get Roger Godell on the Phone

That’s a photo from last Sunday’s Grey Cup, the championship game for the Canadian Football League. Every Grey Cup features cheerleaders from all the CFL teams. They perform at events leading up to the game and the game itself. How awesome would it be if the NFL brought in all their cheerleading squads for the Super Bowl?

  • BC FeLions
  • Calgary Stampeders Outriders
  • Edmonton Eskimos Cheer Team
  • Hamilton Ti-Cats Cheerleaders
  • Montreal Alouttes Cheerleaders
  • Saskatchewan Rider Cheer Team
  • Toronto Argos Cheerleaders
  • Winnipeg Blue Bomber Cheer Team
  • Cheerleader battle: Stampeders vs. Argonauts

    Toronto Sun
    November 19, 2012

    The Toronto Argonauts will battle the Calgary Stampeders for the 100th Grey Cup on the field at the Rogers Centre on Sunday. On the the sidelines, it will be the Blue Thunder vs. the Outriders.

    The cheerleading crews for both squads will be out in full force supporting their teams — and providing a distraction between plays — during the big game.

    Who would win your vote to secure the Grey Cup if it were up to these ladies? The underdog, come-from-behind Blue Thunder or the red-hot Outriders? Does it matter? Let us know!

    [Photo Gallery]

    Ex-Argo Cheerleader’s Coma A Medical And Financial Crisis

    TorStar News Service:

    Anna Leibenko and her three friends planned their European summer vacation months in advance. Two of the women had travel insurance. Leibenko did not.

    The month-long trip started off well. The former Toronto Argonaut Cheerleader celebrated her 24th birthday in Florence at the end of July, toured around Greece, and then hit up Yacht Week in Croatia. Yacht Week is billed as an adventure in which people from all over the world rent yachts, and the regatta takes a week to explore the caves, lagoons and islands of the Adriatic Sea. The Yacht Week website promises a memorable time — partying, night swimming, socializing.

    As the sun was beginning to rise on the Adriatic Sea last Friday, Leibenko slipped on a catamaran, turning her summer vacation into a costly tragedy.

    It was 6 a.m. and she was with a group of new friends. Everyone started jumping off the boat — a 3-metre drop into the water. Before she had a chance to jump, she slipped and fell, hitting her head on the stairs and landing in the water, her friend Karina Vottchal said from Croatia.

    “They were screaming out for help because she was unconscious, and they started to pass on the word they needed a doctor,” says Vottchal, who was asleep three boats away. “There was a doctor from Brazil, ten boats down — she ran out in her pyjamas and saved Anna’s life.”

    Leibenko was transported to hospital by a helicopter. She stopped breathing in the hospital and was put on life support, Vottchal said.

    Now, Leibenko is in a coma in Split, Croatia, with mounting bills. According to a translated hospital record, she fractured various facial bones and has contusions on her brain and lungs, as well as “shortage of breath.” Her mother flew over to be by her side. Every day, her friends and mom wait until 2 p.m., when they are allowed to visit her for one hour in the ICU.

    The foreign affairs department would not release personal details, but in an emailed statement said, “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of a Canadian Citizen who was injured in Croatia. Canadian consular officials in Croatia and in Canada are providing consular assistance to the family as required.”

    As soon as her condition is stable, Leibenko will need to be flown to Toronto by air ambulance. Because she had no travel insurance, Leibenko’s friends have started a campaign to raise the tens of thousands of dollars that will be needed for her Croatian medical bills and the medical evacuation.

    On Tuesday afternoon, her brother Artem Leibenko, 26, had already raised $23,000 by sharing a website with a Paypal link on Facebook.

    “Everybody loves being around her; she’s a fighter, who always tries to help people,” he said. “At the end of day, we just gotta start helping my sister. The longer she stays, the bigger the hospital bill.”

    The Leibenko family came to Canada from Russia when Anna was 9. She studied corporate and media production at Seneca College. In 2010, she was a Cheerleader for the Toronto Argonauts.

    “Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family. We’re doing everything we can to promote that Anna’s family needs a helping hand,” said a Toronto Argonauts spokesman.

    Lisa Wermelin, a product manager with Yacht Week, said the incident happened on an “external boat” but was not able to clarify further details before press time because she was busy helping the family.

    “Our priority is to be with Anna and her friends and family,” she said. “We’re doing everything we can to help her. It’s tricky when you’re in Croatia, with the language barrier.”

    Frank Fotia, the chief operating officer with CAA’s national office, says no Canadian should ever leave the country without travel insurance because of the grave potential consequences. For a few hundred dollars, Fotia says, travelers can be covered for everything, including air ambulance.

    “My experience has been young people who perceive themselves to be invincible just don’t think about it,” he said. “I have an 18-year-old and a 24-year-old myself, and insurance is not on their mind. They’re thinking about a trip,” he said.

    Vlada Namestnikova, a friend of Leibenko, just got back from a similar vacation in Europe.

    “We all decline insurance, thinking that nothing is going to happen to us,” she said.

    An account is being set up at TD Bank in trust for Anna Leibenko. For updates on account information, or to donate online through Paypal, visit: help-anna-leibenko.org.

    All profits from a fundraiser starting at 9 p.m. Thursday at the TIME nightclub, 81 Peter St., will go to the Anna Leibenko fund. A $20 donation is requested at the door.

    [HelpAnnaLeibenko.org]

    2012 Argonauts Cheerleaders

    Football season has already begun for our neighbors to the North. It’s time to check in with the ladies of the Canadian Football League. Click here to read up on the 2012 Toronto Argonauts Cheerleaders.

    Argos’ cheerleader hopefuls fight it out


    Darren Savage
    Toronto Sun
    March 17, 2012

    Watch the video

    TORONTO – They came. They saw. They did a little dancing.

    That was the story Saturday when fierce competition met the Rennaissance Hotel and close to 100 hopefuls attempted to become Toronto Argonauts cheerleaders for the upcoming 2012-2013 season.

    An intensive two-day process, the tryouts are a demanding blend of physical workouts and personal interviews that seek to discover who will work best on the team of 30.

    “We’re looking for a combination of three things: great performers, great physique and an outgoing personality,” says Jorie, who is beginning her third season as head coach of the squad. “We’re always trying to build upon the success of last year but it’s especially exciting this year for the Grey Cup.”

    Toronto will host the 100th anniversary of the Grey Cup. Cheerleaders are expected to participate in over 20 events throughout the city every year, but that number will increase this season in light of the momentous occasion.

    It’s a commitment that exerts plenty of pressure on the girls, many of whom are also developing their careers in fields as diverse as marketing, engineering and chiropractic. Despite having gone through it before, some of of the girls from last year may not make the cut.

    “We had a great team last season but you get nervous for the returning girls,” says Co-Captain Jessica, entering her fifth year on the squad. “There is new part of the process this year with the fitness test that focuses on core strength and your ability to maintain composure.”

    Soon after the successful candidates are chosen, the team will head to Boot Camp. There they will develop their fitness and bond as a team. It’s all in the interest of entertaining the fans.

    “I know what I want to see,” says Rudy Blair, avid Argos fan and judge for the past nine years. “Women who enjoy life, who enjoy what they are doing. Some of them just have that ‘it’ factor and others just will not make the cut.”

    Audition for the Toronto Argos Cheerleaders This Saturday

    The Toronto Argonauts are looking for 30 women to comprise the 2012 Argos Cheerleaders, presented by the Toronto Sun, and be part of the 139th season of Argonauts football as well as the 100th Grey Cup Festival and Game to be hosted right here in Toronto!

    Jorie Brown, Head Coach of the Argos Cheerleaders, commented, “As a member of one of the most entertaining cheerleading teams in professional sport, you’ll feel the rush of running into a stadium filled with tens of thousands of screaming Double Blue fans, the exhilaration from the routines you get to perform with your teammates, and fulfillment from all of the great community work we participate in year round. This year will be one of the most exciting seasons to join the Argos Cheerleaders because the 100th Grey Cup Festival and Game will be right here, in our very own city! I want to encourage all ladies from different dance and cheer backgrounds to audition and be part of something very special in 2012.”

    As a member of the Argos Cheerleaders, you’ll perform at every home game and select away games, as part of Toronto’s most exciting and established cheerleading team. On the field, you will capture the attention of thousands of fans at Rogers Centre. In the stands, you will meet the city’s most dedicated sports fans. This is your opportunity to represent your city, support some meaningful charity events and act as a role model for many young girls.

    Toronto will also host the 100th Grey Cup Festival and Game which gives members of this year’s squad an opportunity to be a part of history. You’ll represent the Double Blue on a national stage during Canada’s largest annual event over ten energy-packed festival days in November, culminating in front of thousands of CFL fans at the big game, and millions more on television, at Rogers Centre!

    If you are female, 19 years and over, reliable, physically fit with dance, cheer or gymnastics experience and a positive attitude – we want you to try out! The Argos Cheerleaders have been an integral part of the Argo game day experience for over 30 years and now is your turn to come out and become one of the 30 members of the team. Those who audition will be evaluated on appearance, dance skills, showmanship and personality.

    [Complete Audition Information]

    2011 Argos Cheerleaders

    New headshots have been posted for the Toronto Argonauts Cheerleaders. Click here to check ’em out. (No profiles or uniform shots yet, but the CFL season starts this month, so I expect updates will be posted sooner rather than later.)

    Argos Cheerleaders Kristin, Alyssa, and Nadia