Day 11: Band Girl as Judge

Me & Tracy Sormanti, NEP Cheerleading Director
Photo by Keith Nordstrom on Patriots.com

About 10 years ago, Fortune smiled upon me and gave me honor of being a judge for the New England Patriots Cheerleaders. It has, without question, become one of the highlights of my year.

When I tell people that I judge, I get one of two reactions: people think it's really cool or totally stupid. I was not a cheerleader. I was polar opposite of a cheerleader, I was in the band. Not only was I in the band, I was the Drum Major, which my husband calls the Head Band Geek. (Jealous, much?) Because I was in the marching band, I am proud to say that I attended every single Varsity Football game all four years of high school, thank you very much. Sure, we represented our school and community in countless parades and competitions. But as we all know, the band just doesn't hold the same cache as athletics.

So the fact that I am now a judge of cheerleaders is, to me, nothing short of a social miracle. It's like when the cool girls decides to befriend the dork, takes off her glasses and oversized letter sweater to find a hottie lurking just below the surfuce. Then she arrives at the dance, (late, of course so the whole school is already there) and she steps into her new social tier with the cool kids. But the dork, now cool, doesn't forget her roots and brings the two worlds together.

I absolutely love it for a number of reasons which, predictably, I will enumerate now:

1. I am completely inspired by the number of young women who not only have the courage to drive to the stadium, but actually get out of their car. Honestly, I don't think I could have done that at that age.
2. I love watching the transformation that happens from the preliminaries to their first appearance as an official Patriots cheerleader. 
3. It reminds me what it felt like to be young. It's not that I think I'm old now. It's just that when you're truly young, a lot of things still feel possible and that's something I think I've lost a little along the way. It's that fearlessness that comes with youth, that's almost needed with youth, because without it, who would want to grow up and/or grow old?

The cheerleaders don't just work on game days. They do a lot of work on behalf of the entire organization from paid appearances to fundraisers for cancer, Children's Hospital, ASPCA, and countless others. And the travel and tours they do for the USO and our troops is truly inspirational. It may seem corny, but I feel fortunate to be a part of making another person's dream come true. And I won't lie, it soothes my unexpressed inner-cheerleader. R-E-S-P-E-C-T!