Gimme a “P.” Gimme an “H.” Gimme a “D.” What?s that spell?
The Ravens cheerleaders are more than just pretty faces and chiseled bodies bouncing around and shakingpom-poms. The 47 women and men have degrees ranging from electrical engineering to MBAs in international business. In fact, many of them are working toward advanced degrees.
The squad members are required to practice three hours straight twice a week, attend all Ravens games and appear publicly for charity, public relations and personal appearances. Their lives for the most part are very private. The team doesn?t even allow their last names to be published for security reasons.
Twenty-year-old Lindi, a rookie on the squad, who studies exercise science at Towson University, spends the rest of her off-time working part-time in a physical therapy office and teaches dance.
“There are so many experiences that I never would have gotten if I hadn?t been a Ravens cheerleader,” Lindi said.
Mykka, 28, cheered in high school and college, but needed to amp up her exercise routine to earn her spot on the squad.
“I had to start lifting weights, running and doing a lot of cardio,” she said. “I also started stretching a lot, doing jumps and tumbling.”
Mykka works as a human resources manager, having obtained her MBA at Johns Hopkins University.
“We really defy the stigma and perception of what cheerleading is all about,” Mark said.
At 29, he is the veteran of the team, having participated with the squad for the last seven years.
“Cheerleading for some reason has gotten the perception that it?s not athletic, it doesn?t require a lot of strength, flexibility or agility. Walk three hours of a practice in our shoes and you will find out that we are everything to the contrary of that.”
“The hardest thing about being on the team is actually the way people look at you when they find out, because people a lot of times they don?t associate intelligence with beauty and charisma and the ability to dance, but we have it all here,” said 25-year-old Talmesha, who is working toward her doctoral degree in cellular and molecular medicine. “That?s the great thing about our squad, that we are able to balance school and work and everything else. All those things are encompassed into one. We are breaking stereotypes, and its really exciting.”
“It?s not all bubbly and pom-poms and bouncing up and down and chewing gum,” Mark said. “It?s nothing like that at all, it?s the exact opposite of that.”
But what do they do?
» Tumbling ? includes backflips, cartwheels, handsprings and more
» Stunting ? throwing the women into the air and catching them
» Dance routines and cheer memorization
» Maintain balance, coordination, flexibility, strength, agility and more
It?s a tough job, but someone has to do it
Mark, 29, has been looking up skirts for the past seven years, but only because it?s his job.
He?s a member of the Ravens stunt team.
“I?m the senior man on the totem pole, I?ve got more tenure than anyone here,” he said. “I?m the grandfather of the squad.”
Between the time-consuming practices, games and public appearances, Mark works full-time as a radio personality on ESPN?s “Anita Marks Show.” He also works part-time for the Army National Guard.
During his freshman orientation at Loyola College, he was approached by two members — male and female — of the school?s cheerleading squad. They convinced him to come to practice, where he said he was “mobbed by 20 girls” who “treated me like the greatest thing since sliced bread.”
“And that?s how you get duped [into becoming a cheerleader],” he said. “Either that or you lose a bet.”
All joking aside, Mark said, “Cheerleading is extremely physically demanding, but that?s part of what?s so fun about it. You come here and you get a good workout, and the girls are easy on the eyes too, so that?s nice.”
Dancing to victory
Talmesha, a 25-year-old member of the Ravens dance team, will shatter all of your misconceptions about cheerleaders.
A double major at UMBC, Talmesha graduated with a degree in chemical engineering and another in mathematics. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins Medical School.
“I switched over to the biological sciences,” she said. “My major is cellular and molecular medicine, but I?m focusing on breast cancer research because my godmother has breast cancer.”
Talmesha said she participates on the dance team because she loves it. “You do it because you love it. There?s nothing like going to an appearance and seeing the look on a little kid?s face when you autograph a picture for them,” she said. “Or especially a little girl when she says, ?I want to be a Ravens cheerleader.? ”
