By ANTHONY BOTTAN
Smith wasn't one of the 70,000 football fans crammed into the stadium to watch the Dolphins play the San Diego Chargers. Smith was standing in a kick line formation on the 50-yard line with the rest of the Dolphins cheerleaders, performing for the crowd and cheering on her team.
Smith, a graduate of Lynbrook High School, was chosen as one of 40 members of the cheerleading squad in April. During a two-week tryout, more than 500 dancers and former cheerleaders, among others, tried out. Smith admitted that she was nervous during the tryout because she had never been a cheerleader before, but she has been dancing since she was 3 and knew that preparation was the key. "I was nervous, but I felt confident because I had been practicing for weeks," she said.
Ever since she was a toddler, Smith has been dancing. She has performed with dance companies all over Long Island, and won a national dance competition with a team in Franklin Square. Now a senior at Barry University in Miami, Smith has performed with the university's dance team since her freshman year.
In her second year of college, she became interested in being a cheerleader for one of Florida's professional sports teams. Some of her friends, she said, mentioned that the Miami Heat and the Dolphins were auditioning dancers for openings on their cheerleading squads. After failing to make the cut for the Heat, Smith decided she needed to fine-tune her dancing skills, and joined the Broadway Dance Center in Manhattan. She danced at the center during her summer and winter college breaks.
"The Dance Center really put me out there," she said. "They sent me on a lot of tryouts in New York. It was definitely a good experience."
After months of practice and auditions, April came and, Smith recalled, she felt ready for Dolphins cheerleaders tryout. There were three rounds of cuts, and those who survived all three made the team. On the first day, contestants performed dance routines at the stadium. Smith danced her way through the first and second cut, and made it to the final round, which lasted about a week and was known as "boot camp." Potential cheerleaders had to learn a kick routine, a dance routine, prepare themselves for a one-on-one interview and choreograph a one-minute solo dance.
The final cut took place at a Miami mall, and local disc jockies helped judge. Smith said she felt extremely prepared, but still was surprised when she was selected as one of the lucky 40. "When they called my number, I had to double check to see if it was mine."
One of the hardest parts of being both a student and a professional cheerleader, Smith said, is balancing her time. But once she settled into a routine, it all started to flow. "It's kind of like a puzzle," Smith said. "When all the pieces fit, it's smooth."
She credits her mother, Kathleen, with being both a driving force and a role model. Her mother has never missed one of her competitions, Stephanie said, and has always encouraged her to do her best. She admitted that performing for thousands of Dolphins fans during home games can be breathtaking, but it's something she always wanted to do.
Smith has two more semesters before she'll graduate with a degree in elementary education. Her goal is to be an occupational therapist for children with special needs. Though dancing is in her heart, she said she fell in love with helping children with special needs after she did community service with them at the Town of Hempstead Recreation Center during her senior year of high school.
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