The USA Cheerleaders are a dedicated and patriotic group of Professional Cheerleaders with unwavering Respect for our Military,the Flag & our Country.Our Mission is to Support our Military ...
Jessica and Kendall of USA Cheerleaders joined the show this morning to talk about how they are supporting America’s soldiers and to tell you about tryout opportunities.
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PRO DANCE CHEER: The USA Cheerleaders by Former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Jacie
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By Jacie Scott
Just weeks ago, I participated in my first Veteran’s Day Parade in Dallas. Not as basic Jacie Scott, but as a USA Cheerleader… and it felt pretty darn amazing.
We marched behind representatives from the Dallas chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and they proved to be wonderful leaders for us. We mingled with children in the crowds, waved at onlookers and danced to the music playing from our Vietnam War Jeep. Most importantly, we personally thanked the men and women who serve/have served our country. It was a fun morning, to say the least.
“Who do you guys cheer for? So, like…what do you guys do?”
I heard questions of the sort at least 37 times that day, and that’s fair considering the Texas Division of the USA Cheerleaders was just established this year. But, I can give you the answer straight out of the mouth of the Director and former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, Jessica Kalil:
So many sports teams have cheerleaders, fans, dancers, jerseys and monuments made after them. Why not have similar support groups, such as cheerleaders and dancers, to promote and support the military who fight for us everyday? When I told that to Taya Kyle [widow of US Navy SEAL Chris Kyle], she told me that I gave her the chills because it’s true. We want to inspire and instill hope in veterans and current military men and women, let them know we’re here for them, and this is the way we know how to do it.
The USA Cheerleaders were established in 2003 and began operations in 2005. Founder Ken Martin envisioned a volunteer group of women that focused on the military and their families. The mission has since grown to include first responders, children’s charities and citizens, in general.
When the Texas division was introduced, Kalil envisioned the organization being a way for dancers to use their talents for a cause greater than them. They appear at fundraisers, volunteer at various events (a la Veterans Day parade), send care packages and write letters to soldiers, etc. Whatever is needed.
“It’s not meant to be a high-strung overwhelming organization to be a part of. It’s supposed to feel good, easy, and like your helping,” she said. “If girls come to one rehearsal a week because that’s all the time they have to volunteer, then we take it, love it and appreciate it. It’s a great way to sty involved, still have a sisterhood, and still feel good about giving back to your country.”
Which brings me back to the parade. Kalil should be proud of the presence the cheerleaders had and the impact that they made. One of the guys from the SAR group that marched in front of us sent a letter to her thanking us for taking the time to pose for photos with his group. He went on to say that they had “the pleasure of marching in front of and brief camaraderie with your pleasant and professional ladies.”
That’s who the USA Cheerleaders are.
For further information on the USA Cheerleaders Texas Division, email jessicakalil@usacheerleaders.org
USA Cheerleaders to hold auditions in Preston Hollow
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USA Cheerleaders, a national organization committed to buoying the United States military with public appearances and fundraising events, is launching a Texas division.
If you’re patriotic and have a mean high kick, consider auditioning for the troop next month at Dallas Power House of Dance on Inwood Road. Tryouts take place January 31 at 9:00 a.m. Arrive 30 minutes early for registration.
“USA Cheerleaders is an incredible group of women that give back to our service members,” says Jessica Kalil, the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who will head the organization’s Texas Division. “Not only will the team perform for military, veterans and their families in Texas, they will also assist in fundraising, writing letters and preparing care packages for our heroes.”
Click here to learn more.
USA Cheerleaders Launch Texas Division; Dallas Auditions
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Representing the first professional cheerleading organization dedicated to the United States military, veterans and their families, the USA Cheerleaders will launch a first-time Texas team in the new year. Read on for details on this passionate and patriotic group, plus information on upcoming Dallas auditions.
High-spirited in red, white and blue, the USA Cheerleaders are currently going strong in New York, New Jersey and Maryland. In support of our Armed Forces, each all-volunteer team makes regular public appearances at events and fundraisers, such as Wounded Warrior Project and America 4R Veterans. Additional efforts, including letter writing and care package campaigns, prove a strong commitment to the following mission statement:
“The USA Cheerleaders are a dedicated and patriotic group of professional cheerleaders with unwavering respect for our military, the flag and our country. Our mission is to support our military, their families and every citizen of the United States. We honor our American Heroes, past, present and future, with a determined sense of patriotic duty, ensuring that they are not forgotten.”
The USA Cheerleaders will branch out from the East Coast for the first time in 2016 with the launch of a new Texas Division. Former Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets cheerleader Jessica Kalil is set to head the team, which is projected to schedule between two and five regional appearances per month.
Dallas auditions for the USA Cheerleaders Texas Division will be held Sunday, January 31st at Power House of Dance (12300 Inwood Road, Unit 110). Candidates must be 18 years of age as of March, 2016, and no professional cheerleading experience is necessary. On audition day, candidates will perform a short freestyle dance before learning a routine and performing before a panel of judges.
For more information and full dance training requirement details, visit the USA Cheerleaders Texas Division Facebook Page or contact jessicakalil@usacheerleaders.org.
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Jessica and Kendall of USA Cheerleaders joined the show this morning to talk about how they are supporting America’s soldiers and to tell you about tryout opportunities.
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In the news segment, reporter names the USA Cheerleaders as the Knicks Dancers, but it was actually the USA Cheerleaders she was talking about!
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The Graffiti of War Project Announces Their “Summer in a Combat Zone” Expedition
Capturing images and experiences from a unique perspective in the final summer in Iraq
“This idea has been a dream of ours since our return from Iraq in support of OIF ’05-’07”, explains Jaeson “Doc” Parsons, Director of Operations and founder of The Graffiti of War Project. “The premise behind this project is twofold: to bring about understanding, foster empathy and bridge the widening gap between service members and civilians through the creation of the published book. Upon the completion of the book, use a large portion of the proceeds from the sale to fund the Graffiti of War Foundation offering support and healing through artistic creation by those afflicted with the silent wounds of war, PTSD.”
“There’s blood everywhere. There’s screaming going on. It’s completely different,” he said. “It’s just a horrible, horrible thing.” It’s been in trying to heal his own mental wounds that Parsons has taken on The Graffiti of War project. For the past 13 months, Parsons and the all-volunteer staff of the Project have been collecting photography of wartime graffiti and unconventional art from Iraq and Afghanistan. They plan to find a publisher for a Graffiti of War book by year’s end, with hopes the photographs will better foster an understanding of what service members experience on the ground.
As this war has entered its tenth year our nation has become silently divided, the widening divide between soldier and civilian grows with each year. It has become more and more difficult to understand the life and trials of a deployed soldier and their family. Although most Americans support our brave men and women, they don’t grasp the magnitude of what affect this conflict, these deployments have on the families and on the mind and soul of the soldier.
“In documenting these images created by soldiers, marines, and airmen, our aim is to give a unique glimpse into the minds of these warfighters.” To give America an inside look at what has gone almost entirely unseen to the vast majority of the public. “Many of these images are raw and created in the moment on unconventional canvases in a very unconventional war. This art, this emotion on canvas will help civilians understand what it is to be separated from family, to lose one of your own in a blink of an eye, to get a feel, a taste of what 15 months fighting a very unpopular war is like. We want to bridge that divide growing in America, we want to bring back the empathy that is lacking for these men and women, and empathy is an emotion that requires understanding, which is our mission”, Doc explains, “to bring understanding to Americans not familiar with the emotions of war”.
“We’re taking care to make sure this is not some random group of images and structures without explanation,” said Parsons, who deployed to Anbar Province with the 54th Engineer Battalion in 2006. “It’s hard to make a civilian understand why someone in the military will do some of the things they do, but I think this project will be a good bridge to the civilian world to help translate that, so long as it’s explained correctly.”
To date, the project has collected 450 images through its site and Facebook page, 70 percent of which have come from service personnel stationed in Iraq. To reach the goal of collecting 10,000 images, Parsons will travel to Kuwait and Iraq this summer. While there, Maxim Magazine will feature his blog posts. Maxim has been an early support of the Graffiti of War Project and has featured the project on their website in the past. Starting in May, Maxim will begin featuring images and updates on the project via Maxim Magazine’s home page, www.Maxim.com as well as in their upcoming “Military” tab. In addition, Maxim will feature updates via their Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/maxim and other social media outlets such as Twitter.
Joining The Graffiti of War Project will be Andrea Sandoval, a former Army non-commissioned officer (E-7) with experience in photography and administrative support as well as Ken Martin from USA Cheerleaders. The USA Cheerleaders are a Professional appearance/performance based organization, that travels the United States and abroad to support our men and women in the armed services. The USA Cheerleaders were the first professional cheerleading organization that was designed specifically with the military in mind. Over the years they have fundraised for many different charities and in 2010 they fundraised more than in all the previous years. USA Cheerleaders attended the BGC Charity Day in NYC for the Wounded Warrior Project, on that one day, they fundraised over $370,000. They have been involved in dozens of events to include:
Wounded Warrior Project Alumni Event in Times Square on New Year’s Eve (2010)
Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade (2010)
FDNY vs. NYPD Battle of the Badges with WWP n NYC (2010)
Proceeds from the book will largely help fund the Graffiti of War Foundation, which aims to promote art therapy as treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder to veterans. The foundation also has the eventual goal of offering free online group therapy to soldiers and veterans. The project’s website, graffitiofwar.com, links to a trained clinician who provides online therapy, but there is a fee.
“We envision in the beginning maybe just a group of soldiers talking to themselves, but we’d like to have a steady supply of health-care professionals who are willing to donate a couple hours a day to talk to them, so they can be helped through these emotions now,” said Parsons, Graffiti of War director of operations. “That way, when they’re coming home to their loved ones, they’re not a shell of what they used to be.”
“We have, from the beginning, wanted to do something for our fellow veterans and current service members that would benefit every aspect of their life, from their emotional and mental state to their creative minds and incredibly selfless acts of service”, Parsons says, “when we went to war, some foreign hot (or frigid) hellhole thousands of miles from our warm beds, we didn’t quit. When we did some of the most difficult things, ever to be asked of a citizen of this Nation, we did it, not because of some politician, or policy maker, some President or Congressman, we did it because of US. We did it for our brother on our left and our sister on our right. We did it, and would do it all over again, because we had each other’s back.”
“The foundation’s initial work involves exposing art therapy as a solution for PTSD, be it music, sculpture, painting or other creative forms”, Melissa Parsons, The Graffiti of War Foundation executive director said. “Through various forms of art, veterans who may have reservations talking about what they went through may find an easier way to process their emotions”, she said.
Though still in the planning stages, the couple has discussed finding veteran volunteers in cities and towns to help organize creative groups for their peers. As groups are established, Melissa said the opportunity will exist for community involvement. Ideally, she said, that involvement could include businesses and organizations offering unused spaces for the groups to work in. Eventually, trained clinicians will be brought in to guide art therapy sessions. “Initially we want to get groups set up to learn the skills, be it music or art, but also to socialize because a lot of these guys come back and they’re so cut off from everyone,” Melissa said. “We want them to have people to turn to.”
“We want to show people, this is how you can get involved, by being part of the dialogue. So that we’re not going to be the ’70s generation that forgot about the vets,” he said. “We’re not going to be our grandfather and great-grandfather’s generations, who just didn’t talk about what happens in a war. Let’s bring it out in the open, so everyone can talk about it. Then we can move on.”
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USO Care Package Program Tops 2 Million Mark
Monday, December 06, 2010
It is appropriate that during the season of giving, the USO has passed the two million mark for care packages shipped to service men and women overseas. The milestone was reached at Fort Belvoir, Va., as more than 100 volunteers, troops and their families gathered to assemble more than 5,200 care packages. The group was joined by “Jackass” star Jason "Wee Man" Acuna (pictured at left, holding the two millionth package) and the USA Cheerleaders.
“This holiday season is the perfect time to celebrate the two millionth USO care package and to remember our men and women in uniform and their families. This milestone represents America’s two millionth act of kindness and support for our troops,” said USO President Sloan Gibson. “As we decorate trees, wrap presents and prepare to celebrate the holidays, let us not forget the thousands of troops deployed all over the world. Our troops continue their selfless service in defense of the liberties we hold dear and now is the time for us to let America’s bravest citizens know that they will forever be At Home in Our Hearts.”
Operation USO Care Package Program Director Jonathon Cannon said: “Each item included in the care package was carefully selected to meet the changing needs of today’s service men and women. Our volunteers are on a mission to make sure our troops are not forgotten -- especially this time of year. For the last seven years of the Operation USO Care Package program, they have all included a special gift in each care package they assembled -- love.”
Each USO care package, sponsored for $25, includes approximately $75 worth of items requested by service members, such as a prepaid international phone card, sunscreen, travel size toiletries (shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, lip balm, hand sanitizer, etc.), snacks and a personal message of support from the donor. Care packages are delivered to troops deploying to Afghanistan, Iraq and other overseas locations, as well as troops arriving and departing on rest and recuperation (R&R) flights and special send-off celebrations.
•Learn how you can help with the Operation USO Care Package effort.
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Earlier this month the USA Cheerleaders appeared at the Wounded Warrior Project in New York City. The Cheerleaders attended the BGC Charity Day, which included tons of celebrities like: Hillary Duff, Jon Voight,Gary Sinese, Nigel Barker, John McEnroe, Buzz Aldrin, Edie Falco, Marcia Gay Harden, Matthew Modine, Russell Simmons, Babara Walter, Billy Crudrup, Carol Kane, Carol Alt, Eli Manning, Aiden Quinn, Mark Ruffalo, Evan Handler, Tony Cirico,Steve Buscemi, Lorraine Bracco.
Four Cheerleaders were at the event from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Each Cheerleader took a phone call and closed a deal. The total of the four phone calls was $328,000, the largest USA Cheerleaders have ever done for a charity.
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Ken Martin has a love for the military community which stems from his grand dad being a sergeant in the army. Ken couldn’t enlist because he was blind in one eye and became involved in the next best thing. Cheer Channel asked about Ken’s USA Cheerleaders and their dedication to serving all of our U.S branches of the military at home and overseas.
Cheer Channel: Hi Ken! We are excited to hear about how the concept of USA Cheerleaders was born.
Ken: It was when I was a professional coach, and found out that other professional teams turned down the USO and other military requests.
Cheer Channel: So that is when you decided to become involved on your own?
Ken: Yes. When I left professional cheerleading, I did a lot of research and didn’t just jump on the bandwagon right away. I spent a few years on the back end before putting together a USA Cheerleaders team.
Cheer Channel: How would one try out for USA Cheerleaders?
Ken: It is a hand- picked process and usually friends/cheerleaders will refer me to a potential candidate. I put them through their paces at practice. If I like their style I offer them a position. I give opportunities to try out a couple of times a year for new people to join our team.
Cheer Channel: What skills are you looking for during try-outs? What kinds of experience do the potential candidates have?
Ken: Some are former NFL, NBA cheerleaders, some are more technical cheerleaders. We look for talent and skill in every aspect – tumbling, stunting, singing and some dance. We also have ambassador cheerleaders who do only meet and greet and act as ambassadors at all of our performances/shows. The Ambassadors do not have to be a former Cheerleader but they have to meet certain requirements to be on the team or they are former cheerleaders who cannot commit the time to practice to be a part of the Show Team.
Cheer Channel: Do you have a particular look that you want your cheerleaders to have in order to be part of the team?
Ken: I have all kinds of looks and talent, and I don’t stick to one stereotypical look. Parents have thanked me for sending positive messages that you don’t have to have the perfect figure to be an excellent cheerleader. We try to motivate the girls to be happy with the way they look. The girls also feel good that they are giving back to our military troops.
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The USA Cheerleaders are composed of over 50 talented, energetic and beautiful young men and women. They perform a wide variety of funk, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, gymnastics and cheerleading routines at various events throughout the United States and around the world.
The USA Cheerleaders became the first non-professional sports cheerleading squad to perform for the USO of Washington, DC at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Such an honor is usually reserved for NFL or NBA squads. The performance was designed to boost the morale of troops injured in Iraq and featured a variety of various dance routines, tumbling, a karate performance and a recreated Saturday Night Live comedy skit.
But The USA Cheerleaders are more than just entertainers and performers. They have consistently remained active advocates in their community, for local and national charities. They have participated in The Race for the Cure and other fundraisers benefiting The American Cancer Society. The USA Cheerleaders also partnered with the American Red Cross and were able to raise over $11,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Last month in Jacksonville the photo shoot for the 2009 USA Cheerleader Swimsuit Calendar took place. The 18-month calendar that will be handed out to troop members during appearances and tours. And since the organization is coed, Ken tells us he's looking into putting together a male version of the calendar for servicewomen.
Ken has teams in Maryland, Virginia and Florida, and he's tells us he's looking to expand further in Florida and Atlanta.
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The USA Cheerleaders made an appearance on The Rachel Ray Show. The show was taped last week and aired yesterday (Thursday).
The segment was the 2009 Super Bowl Cook Off with three NFL Players. The players were Jacksonville Jaguars QB David Garrard, New York Jets C Nick Mangold, and New York Giants CB R.W. McQuarters.
Making the trip to NYC were USA Cheerleaders Founder Ken Martin, Florida Director: Jeni C, Maryland Director: Becky H, MD Show Team member Kahla G, and FL Show Team members Amy W, Kourtney G, and Kenesha O.