The COVID-19 pandemic has turned a lot of lifestyles upside down during the past few weeks.
For most people, it’s meant some form of self-quarantine, self-isolation or social distancing.
For others, it may have cost them the opportunity to work or participate in a favourite activity.
Rachelle, 24, a seven-year veteran with the Eskimos Cheer Team, has experienced all of those things.
An LPN nursing student at NorQuest College, Rachelle was enjoying work in a hospital emergency room when her schooling was put on hold in March. She had two weeks left in her final practicum before graduating.
“Due to me being in health care, my work won’t let me go back to work,” she said. “I’ve had to quarantine for 14 days. It’s kind of sad because Eskimos have been post poned, school has been cancelled, I can’t go to work.
“I have a dog, so I try to spend lots of time with her right now. Other than that, it’s just been hanging out at home. It’s been a boring time.”
Rachelle hopes she will still get an opportunity to help out in the medical field at some point during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Bayley, 22, a fourth-year member of the Cheer Team, was excited when she was granted an interview to apply for the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary.
“I was supposed to go at the end of March, but that interview date was postponed and I don’t know when I’ll get to interview,” said Bayley, who works as a receptionist at an Edmonton veterinary clinic.
In the meantime, members of the Cheer Team selected in late February have been meeting online.
“We just started practices before this happened,” said Rachelle, a dancer. “Our very last practice, we started to get into some of the cheers for the season and then this all kind of happened and it just came to a halt.”
“We had our first Zoom session (in late March),” Bayley said about the online video site, “so I think we’re going to do a video chat once a week and try our best to learn everything and get ready for the season over video.
“It’s hard because the beginning of the season is where we have all of our really important practices, getting to know everyone on the team for the year and learning all of the cheers and everything we do for a game. We had only two practices before we had to stop things so it was really hard because we’re just trying to get everything organized. It’s a little sad.
“There’s a whole lot of stuff we need to do,” she added.
Rachelle pointed out that, depending upon how long the current protocols are in place, the Cheer Team “might potentially start doing some practices through Zoom.”
That might work for the dancers, but the Stunt Team, which is divided into groups of three (two base members and a flyer), is limited with what it can practise right now.
“All we can do is keep doing normal workouts,” said Meika, 26, a four-foot-11, third-year member of the Stunt Team. “We have other ways of practising our balancing skills. I have a Bosu ball at home – just balancing on that helps.
“We do video conferencing with the team just to keep in contact with each other,” she continued. “We do practice our cheers at home, because we can do that. But for the stunting, we’ll just have to wait until we can see each other again.”
The Stunt Team usually has a dedicated two-hour practice every Monday night, but each trio often works out on its own for at least another two hours each week.
At four-foot-11, Meika is obviously the flyer in her trio. She has been doing cheer for most of her life, but hesitated for a few years before trying out for the Eskimos Cheer Team at the age of 23.
“I’ve always wanted to do it, but I was just kind of scared and shy to not try out after graduating (from high school),” she said. “I like performing in front of people… and I have friends on the team and they were encouraging me to go in, so I tried out and I made it and I’ve loved it ever since.”
Like many of the Dance Team members, Rachelle grew up dancing competitively. Upon graduating from high school, she was looking for something else to do in the performance world when her former dance teacher let her know about an audition for the Cheer Team.
I love the Eskimos,” she said. “It’s a really good program.”
“So much fun,” offered Kelsey, 22, a third-year dancer from Grande Prairie.
“I had been to some football games and the K-Days parade, so I knew about the (Eskimos) dance team,” Bayley said. “One year, I thought: ‘I’m going to try out.’ I made the team and I’m still on the team. It’s definitely lots of fun.”
Téa, 23, made a couple of international trips with the Team Canada Dance Hip Hop crew while attending the University of Alberta, but that was taking up too much time, so she joined a campus dance club (MOD) and concentrated more on her academics.
“A fellow dancer in that club suggested I try out (for the Cheer Team) last year, so I went through the tryout,” she said. “I didn’t really know too much about the Eskimos other than the team itself. I’m from a small town (Taber) in Southern Alberta. There wasn’t a whole lot of football scene or even a cheer scene.
“I tried out and I really loved it last year. It was such an incredible experience working with the Eskimos that I decided to do it again.”
Téa and her fellow Cheer Team members will just have to be patient until that opportunity can resume again.