ask a cheerleader (part one)

(photos courtesy of Washington Redskins)

MEET HEATHER

She’s 29, originally from Stafford, Virginia, and is enjoying her fifth year as a member of the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders. And most importantly, she’s kind enough to answer your questions.

On average, how many hours a week do you work out with the cheerleaders? Workout in the gym? Work your regular job? And how many other events a year do you work as a cheerleader for the Redskins?

The cheerleaders have practice Tuesdays and Thursday from 7-10:30 p.m. Early in the season, or if it is a game week, we may add extra practices. Some ladies workout a lot, while others use our practices as their weekly workouts. I personally work out six days a week for about 45 minutes to an hour and alternate cardio and lifting. I have a nine-to-five job that is pretty flexible on when I work, but every week its 40 hours. All of the cheerleaders do around 20-30 charity and promotional events throughout the year. These are chosen by each individual cheerleader based on their schedules. These can range from performances, autograph signings or events helping around the community.

Speaking of your regular job, what do you do and are there any similarities between your two jobs?

I am an engineer and a consultant for the Defense Department, mostly with the Navy. My focus is with materials and paints. Yes, I’m a nerd. There are absolutely no similarities between my two jobs. This is great because it allows me to use both sides of my brain. When my day job gets rough, I always have the ‘Skins to clear my head.

Just how often do you get hit on by fans at a typical Redskins game? What’s the funniest/most bizarre thing a fan has done or said to try and impress you?

It definitely happens to all of us, a handful of times per game. It’s probably the best, when the fan is seated in a higher section and tries to give you their phone number and get you to call using sign language. I once had a fan who wanted me to do a promotion event that was two hours away. He sent me tons of mail, including a picture of the venue with a cutout of myself taped to it and a map that highlighted the route from the stadium to the event.

MEET JAMILLA

She’s 32, originally from Newport News, Virginia, and is in her sixth year as a Redskins cheerleader. She’s also a captain of the team, so don’t get on her bad side.

Why did you want to become a cheerleader? What made you initially try out to be a Washington Redskins Cheerleader, and just how tough was it to make the squad?

I love performing and I am a huge Washington Redskins fan, so it gives me the opportunity to cheer for my favorite team and enjoy what I love to do – DANCE! I initially auditioned for the team because a friend of mine was a member of the squad. She helped me prepare for auditions, but I got my best information from attending prep classes. This gave me the opportunity to learn the dance style of the team and workout with some of the current members of the squad. Auditions are pretty tough because there are several rounds to get through – freestyle, choreography, interview, but attending prep classes definitely helped a lot.

We’ve heard that the Redskins cheerleaders don’t get paid. Is that true? Also, what perks or benefits come with being a Redskins cheerleader?

No this is not true, but what we all enjoy most about being a cheerleader, besides performing, are the opportunities to be in the D.C. Metropolitan community. As a cheerleader, you are required to have a full-time job, be a full-time student or a full-time mom so this is not our full-time job. We do enjoy the opportunity to travel to exotic locations for our calendar trip and to travel overseas to perform for the troops. We have some great sponsors as well that provide us with services needed to be a Washington Redskins Cheerleaders, like Robert Andrews as our hair care sponsor, Sport & Spine as our chiropractic sponsor, D.C. Smiles to keep our smiles pretty, Washington Sports Club as our gym sponsor, and the list goes on.

How many of the cheerleaders actually know the game of football? And how many are actually Redskins fans?

I truly believe that the majority of our team knows a great deal about football. If you pay close attention to the cheerleaders you will see us watching intently from the sidelines. Sometimes we are supposed to be dancing, but because a great play is happening on the field you will catch us jumping up and down celebrating. We truly love the game, and we have the best seats in the house (besides the football team). I have never heard any of the ladies say that they are fans of another team, and I assume that if they liked another team they would have auditioned to be on their cheerleading squad.

1 comment

  1. Kay Richter
    October 29, 2008 at 4:34 pm

    It’s awesome that you ladies actually love the Redskins and football. I think many people had a horrible feeling that you were just cheering for the Skins because you just wanted to cheer, not because you cared about the team/sport. Glad that’s cleared up.

    And it’s fun to watch y’all get excited at good plays and do cheers at appropriate times…my sister is now the captain of her high school squad, and she knows football, but before she became captain there were many painful moments watching her squad do defensive cheers when they were on offense.

    You ladies have my utmost respect, obviously being a professional cheerleader isn’t easy between the timing and the physical ability to dance so well…if I could, I’d be right down there with ya!

    Hail!
    -Kay

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