ISM- INTERVIEW ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

Student Name:
Printed Name of Person
Interviewed:
Role of Individual:

Sabrina Orta

Period: 7

Shannon Baty

Place of Business:

___Mentor _X__Other Professional #1

All-Star Revolution

Business Address:

15255 Gulf Freeway, Houston, TX 77034

Phone Number:

281-741-3762

Date of Interview:

4/11/15

___Other Professional #2

Type of Interview: _X In Person ___ Telephone* ___Email*

*Documentation Required (Attach E-mail to Interview Verification Page)

1. Please describe the fantasies versus realities of being an NFL Cheerleader.

(fantasy vs. reality)
Its easier to address the realities of the position before going into the fantasies
Realities: Theres a lot of outside practices and work that goes into cheering at a Texans game. Many
hours are spent to practice new dances and in preparation for each weekly game.
Fantasies: Cheerleaders just stand there and look pretty in an NFL game and that they dont need very
much preparation and dont do very much.
2. How long have you been a cheerleader?
A grand total of 15 years. Heres the breakdown of it
Competitive Cheer for 10 years (from age 7-17)
Junior High and High School Cheer along with the competitive cheer
College Cheer for 3 years (at the University of Houston)
NFL Cheerleading for 2 years ( for the Houston Texans)
3. Do you have a specialty in coaching an aspect of cheer?
(favorite thing to coach)
I am very precise about jumps specifically. Unlike most coaches, who overlook them, I focus on them and
do privates with kids on their jumps.
4. How are you evaluated by your coaches?

Revised Fall 2013

Every Monday after the previous game, we are required to try-out for the next game, and if we mess up,
we dont get to cheer. At all games we are also video- taped and if we mess up on the video then we dont get to
cheer at the next game either. I have to be prepared at all times. Messing up on the field is not taken lightly.
5. Please compare NFL Cheerleading versus Collegiate Cheerleading.
Thats easy- these are completely different in purposes. NFL Cheer is based mainly performance driven.
We are there for show. It is in this sense that we are a lot like all-star cheer, considering both styles of
cheerleading are performance-driven more-so than crowd-involvement. Meanwhile, in college cheer, the main
drive is to get the crowd involved.
6. What other career aspirations do you have?
I want to be a News Anchor. I actually have an internship this summer with Houston KPRH. Whats
funny is that NFL Cheer really helped me out with this, as media coverage and speaking to the media are key
parts of being on the squad, so this helped me to get used to speaking publicly and on a televised scale.
7. What teams do you coach? Do you simply assist in coaching and do privates?
I mainly do privates and assist with high school teams. With my background in both competitive cheer
and high school cheer, I help a lot with competitive high school teams.
8. Describe a typical game-day from your point of view.
We get to the stadium at 6am and get ready, practice, and sound check everything before 10. Then we go
to pre-game media appearances, then we walk out to the field to start pre-game. Its such an adrenaline rush with
the crowd cheering!! We dance, then the team runs out and then the national anthem is played- which is the most
amazing feeling looking out into the crowd and seeing how touched people get. Then kickoff and game time
happens!! This whole time we are videotaped for mistakes by our coaches. We get to perform during 2 minute
warnings and 3rd quarter breaks, and its so fun when 75,000+ fans are screaming! NRG stadium is one of the
loudest stadiums in the NFL! Then after the game we do autographs usually for the 5 th quarter, and then we
pack all our stuff up and finally go home after a 10 hour-long day.
9. What are NFL Cheer tryouts like?
Walking into the live tryout, there are 1000 other girls there. We are given a very short time to learn the
dances, and are then told to line up and be evaluated. There are 3 separate cuts made in the first day alone, so they
are very rigorous.
10. What do coaches look for in NFL Cheerleaders?

Our coaches mainly look for girls who can pick up dances really fast obviously. They also need
to be pretty to look at and good performers. Cheerleaders for the NFL are held to a certain expectation
that is very high in the looks department.

Interview Summary
What information from this interview will you select for your page typed,
bulleted list of research informationto be used in your presentation?

Revised Fall 2013