In this edition of Flashback Friday, we go back seven years to 2010, when I visited the Phoenix Cardinals and was able to photograph the lovely Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders. With respect to sports teams, I’ve always been a fan of uniforms and I believe that part of the allure of a dance team was their uniforms. And one of my favorite uniforms was the ACC’s white uniform. Classy and elegant with the right amount of “sexy”, the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders are a great squad to watch.
Here’s a photo taken a couple of years ago at a Los Angeles D-Fenders game. The D-Fenders were the NBA D-League affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers and one of the unique features of that team was that their cheerleaders were the Laker Girls.
Sharpe eyed readers of this blog might recognize the girl featured in the above photo…her name is Blake and she was a Laker Girl and a Charger Girl. Blake was one of my favorite Charger Girls to photograph last year and I got many wonderful shots of her…and here’s a little secret that I don’t think she’ll mind me sharing…she was a Disney Princess at Disneyland! Cinderella, if I recall correctly. I think you can see why.
Here’s a bonus pic of Blake.
Back in 2011, I was fortunate to attend the Sacramento Kings Dancers auditions, which were held in a ballroom at the Thunder Valley Casino and Resort. That location led to some beautiful photographs with the stage in glorious theatrical lighting and a nice contrasting black background…just wonderful for highlighting the dancers.
And the photo above…well that was one of my favorites of the day.
The best kept secret in Southern California sports is that the Inland Empire 66ers have a dance team…quite a nice looking dance team. Back in 2011, I made the trek to San Bernardino, California to shoot the Inland Empire 66ers dance team and while they were getting made up before the game, I snapped this shot of one of the girls.
Here’s a ten year old photograph of one of my all time favorite Charger Girls to shoot…CG Summer. I rarely took a bad photograph of her, which is a testament to her photogenic good looks and personality, and to this day, her photos still bring joy to my heart.
It is a new beginning for the Chargers. Their long quest for a solution to their stadium issue was resolved when they formally relocated to the Los Angeles market for 2017 season. The team will play their home games in the intimate confines of the StubHub Center for the next two years while they await the completion of their new, state of the art stadium in Inglewood.
It is also a new beginning for the Charger Girls. Of the 28 young women who graced the sidelines last year, only eight are tying out for the 2017 squad. So, there are definitely big changes in store for the organization and for the Charger Girls. It is a new chapter in their storied history.
Many more photos after the break.
The Charger Girls are holding auditions tomorrow at Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA. In honor of this event, we feature a more recent image for this week’s Flashback Friday. Its a photo of Rebecca, one of my favorite Charger Girls from the past two years.
I made the mistake of assuming she was just out of high school because she had a rather younger look to her and bio page kind of implied that she was, but the Chargers are notorious for not updating these pages timely. Girls out of high school rarely make the Charger Girls straight away, but some do…the ones that are really special. Either way, Rebecca had a fresh faced look to her and she belonged on that squad.
