Auditions for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' cheerleading squad came to an end last Friday after two intense but very fruitful weeks.For the first time ever, the majority of those tryouts were held at team headquarters, which meant each of the approximately 300 candidates would exit the front doors of One Buccaneer Place at the end of her session.
Now, 30 of those talented and enthusiastic women will do the same thing in a figurative sense, emerging from team headquarters to represent the Buccaneers in the Bay area and around the globe for the next 12 months.
Those 30 women make up the prestigious 2010 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders, a team that was announced on Friday.Scroll down to see the entire list, which includes 20 returning cheerleaders and 10 promising newcomers.Buccaneers Cheerleading Coordinator Cathy Boyd, who ran the auditions and made the final selections, is thrilled with this year's squad.
"I think we have a really good mix, with 18 veterans from last year, two veterans from previous years and the 10 rookies," she said."It's a good balance.Some of our new women have very interesting careers - we have an adoption specialist, an insurance underwriter and a registered nurse.This is a great group of rookies and we think they will bring a lot of enthusiasm to our squad.They'll fit in great with our returning veterans, who made the team so special last year."
Buccaneers Cheerleaders devote countless hours to practice, performances, charitable appearances and even worldwide military support tours.These hardworking women balance those responsibilities with schoolwork and/or full-time careers.Rookie Kara Partin, for instance, is the adoption specialist to which Boyd refers, while fellow newcomers Faith Decker and Sarah Nelson are the insurance underwriter and registered nurse, respectively.Among the returning veterans are many students, as well as a dental hygienist (Jaime Hanna), a cardiopulmonary technician (Stephanie Ritz) and an elementary school teacher (Roseanne Strobel), to name a few.The two previous veterans who are back after not participating last year are Lisa Banspach and Milly Figuereo.
All 30 of the selected cheerleaders are already finding ways to divide their time between rehearsals, schoolwork and office responsibilities.
"We've already started team meetings and "boot camp" workouts after the meetings," said Boyd, who informed those who auditioned of the selections last Friday."We're already in full swing.Some of the veterans will be at the Draft Day Party at the stadium, but the first performance for the full squad will be at FanFest in June."
In other words, there is much hard work in the next few months awaiting:
THE 2010 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS CHEERLEADERS
NAME
STATUS
OCCUPATION
Ashlee Figg
Rookie
Estimating Coordinator
Ashley Kowal
4-Year Veteran
Recruiter
Ashley Lamb
Rookie
Student - Advertising
Courtney Russ
2-Year Veteran
Student - Communications
Cynthia Bastos
2-Year Veteran
Project Engineer
Faith Decker
Rookie
Insurance Underwriter
Holly Sellers
4-Year Veteran
Student - Education
Jaime Hanna
4-Year Veteran
Dental Hygienist
Jennifer Summers
8-Year Veteran
Student - Marketing
Jessica Barsch
Rookie
Marketing Representative
Kara Partin
Rookie
Adoption Specialist
Kelli Jones
4-Year Veteran
Promotions Producer
Lauren Cross
Rookie
Student - Mass Communications
Lisa Banspach
3-Year Veteran
Student - Education
Marlana Aref
2-Year Veteran
Student - Psychology
Meagan Pravden
2-Year Veteran
Student - Broadcast Journalism
Melanie Martinez
Rookie
Student - Graphic Design
Milly Figuereo
4-Year Veteran
Office Manager
Nikki Fraser
Rookie
Student - Nursing
Nina Stauffer
2-Year Veteran
Student - International Business
Rochelle Williams
3-Year Veteran
Student - Media Communications
Roseanne Strobel
3-Year Veteran
Elementary School Teacher
Sarah Nelson
Rookie
Registered Nurse
Shaniqua Brown
Rookie
Student - Social Sciences
Stephanie Ritz
2-Year Veteran
Cardiopulmonary Technician
Susan Stein
3-Year Veteran
Sales
Tanya Rossi
2-Year Veteran
Cheerleading Coach
Tiffany Jimenez
5-Year Veteran
Dance instructor
Tomoko Kojima
8-Year Veteran
Student - Education
Tramane Shuler
5-Year Veteran
Student - Physical Therapy
The auditions, which began on Monday, March 22, attracted approximately 300 original candidates. In a departure from the tryout format of previous years, the women did not learn a choreographed routine before their audition and they did not perform in large groups.Instead, those who auditioned danced freestyle to popular music in sets of two, hopefully displaying both physical talent and a charismatic personality.
"The process was really smooth this year," said Boyd."We had a lot of changes, and having it here at One Buc Place really helped.It seemed like everyone was on an even slate because they didn't know what to expect.We had two women who were previously on the team but not on last year's squad, and they definitely didn't know what to expect.I think that sort of leveled the playing field for everybody."
From that original field, 100 women were tabbed for callbacks, where the group was again narrowed down to 58 finalists. Paring those 58 down to 30 was a tough process, as it is every year.
"It was difficult, especially once you get to know them," said Boyd."During the interview part of the process, you get to know what they're all about, what they're passionate about outside of dancing, what really makes them unique and special.Once you see what is special about all of these women, and you picture how they can fit into the team, it can be very hard to pare down the list.
"It comes down to a lot more than just dancing, and you really get to know these women on a personal level.We spent a lot of time with the last 58, and they were all very talented.There were a few that were right on the cusp, and we're hoping we'll see them back at next year's tryouts.
