by Bailey White
Staff Writer
With the first Jacksonville Jaguars home game behind her, Cheryl O’Brien can relax.
The first-year Roar cheerleader admits to having been a little nervous before last week’s preseason game against the Miami Dolphins.
“But then the excitement just took over, especially when we were out on the field,” she said. “It was great.”
O’Brien moved to Jacksonville with her husband, a Navy helicopter pilot, in February. When the Roar held tryouts for new members about a month later, O’Brien jumped at the opportunity.
“I knew that it would be a good way to get involved in a new city,” she said. “I’ve been cheerleading since middle school and I’ve always loved it.”
At Notre Dame, where O’Brien earned bachelor’s degrees in finance and Spanish, she was a member of the Pom Pom Squad and the Olympic Squad Cheerleaders, a group that performed for the school’s basketball, soccer and volleyball games.
“This is a little different,” she said of NFL cheerleading. “My background is in coed cheerleading where we did a lot of stunts and gymnastics, and this includes a lot more dancing. Plus, I had to get used to dancing with my hair down.”
There’s more than just the new costumes and routines to get used to.
O’Brien has to balance 25 hours a week of practice with the rest of her life, which includes her job as a teller at AmSouth Bank downtown.
“I’ve always been busy,” she said. “I really enjoy working at AmSouth and I’d like to stay with the company for a while.
“In Pensacola, [where she and her husband lived before moving to Jacksonville] I worked as a personal banker and loan officer and I think eventually I’d enjoy administration or management,” she said.
The time commitment has been worth it for O’Brien, who has formed some close bonds with other members of the squad.
“It’s such a unique group,” she said. “The women come from incredible backgrounds and professions. A couple of women have children and we have one cheerleader from Greece and one from Guam.”
O’Brien has also enjoyed working with the Junior Roar, a group of 40 aspiring cheerleaders between the ages of 12 and 18 that the Roar instructs and coaches. She spent the past three summers doing similar work with the National Association of Cheerleaders.
“We taught cheerleading camps up and down the West Coast,” she said. “We even went to Alaska. It was a wonderful experience.”
O’Brien grew up in Northern California, in wine country, where her parents still live. It’s a place she’d considering returning to someday, but for now she’s happy in her new city, its proximity to the beach, its new NFL coach and its many football fans.
“I can’t believe all the excitement surrounding the games and the fans are so supportive,” she said. “It’s really amazed me.”