NFL Cheerleading Opportunities
When they come out onto the field in their blue and white cheerleaders uniforms, this NFL cheerleading squad is perhaps better known than the team that they cheer for, which is of course the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders have been entertaining football fans for many years with their stellar performances.
It wasn't always this way. High school cheerleaders were used until 1972, and then the new Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders were introduced and the world of cheerleading changed forever on a national level, and which also helped with the beginning of NFL cheerleading. The cheerleaders became more popular and personal appearance requests starting coming in, especially after they were seen on camera during Super Bowl X in 1976.
If you are one of the young women who believes that getting on a national cheerleading squad is easy, then you have obviously never tried out for one because a great deal of time and effort goes into just trying to get on a squad. The National Cheerleaders Association indicates that in order to have any kind of chance at all when competing for a spot, you must be in the top 2% of the best performers. If you do actually make it onto a team, then you are going to spend many hours every day practicing to ensure that you and everyone else can do the routines perfectly.
Along with learning all of the routines, most of the cheerleaders also have to show up for things like charity events, guest appearances, cheerleading photos and many times they have even traveled overseas to entertain our military troops. Some people also believe that they pretty much have their pick of who to date, however NFL policies actually prohibits them from fraternizing with any of the players. They are really not even allowed any kind of a relationship, outside of some interaction at different events.
If you think that NFL cheerleading equates to big paychecks, then you would most likely be wrong. On average, a cheerleader makes about $50 per game. Many of their appearances are also done for free; however, there are some paid appearance gigs available but as a general rule these young women are not going to get rich, and more often than not they have to pay for their own cheerleading shoes, uniforms etc. That being said, many of them will go on to other things like modeling or possibly acting, or other personal appearances once they have left the squad. There have been many cases where one of them did make it big after leaving; Teri Hatcher was at one time a San Francisco 49er cheerleader and look where she ended up.
Related topics about NFL Cheerleading
Preparing For Cheerleader Competitions
Another item that needs to be taken care of about 3 months before cheerleader competitions is choosing the music for your routine. The music for cheerleaders can be pre-mixed or it can be customized for a routine; either way the team should choose their music and start integrating the steps and stunts that the team has been practicing. Since most of the competitions have a time limit (usually about 2 ½ minutes), it is important to make sure that the music you have chosen does conform to whatever time restrictions are in place.
The Excitement of Cheerleading Stunts
When you are first learning cheerleading stunts you will learn the basics that include round-offs, cartwheels and tumbling. Eventually, you will start to learn harder moves like the back tucks and hand springs after you have had a little more practice. Quite often a squad will attend a cheerleading camp in order to learn these harder stunts.
Cheerleading 101
There are plenty of classes you can take to learn cheerleading. Any gymnastics center or dance center in your city will most likely offer cheerleading classes. The classes will focus on learning to work together and learning basic moves such as the pyramid.