Pittsburgh Steelerettes: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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From their beginning in [[1961 Pittsburgh Steelers season|1961]] until their demise in [[1969 Pittsburgh Steelers season|1969]], all members of the Steelerettes were full-time students at [[Robert Morris University|Robert Morris Junior College]] in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Lee">{{cite web|last=Lee|first=Amber|title=The Steelers Had the First NFL Cheerleaders|url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1594541-the-45-best-kept-secrets-in-sports/page/28|work=Bleacher Report|publisher=Turner|accessdate=1 May 2013}}</ref> Robert Morris was a small Junior College without a football team who had unofficially adopted the Steelers as "their team". An administrator at the College, William Day, also served as the entertainment coordinator for the Steelers. It was his idea to hold tryouts at the College and select a group of young coeds to perform on the field, in hopes of improving lackluster ticket sales to Steelers games.<ref name="Williams" />

At tryouts, candidates were evaluated on coordination, personality, gymnastics, and appearance.<ref name="Williams" /> Squad members took a basic football test to prove that they would know when to cheer, and were required to maintain a 2.0 [[GPA]].<ref name="Lee" /> At games, they performed choreographed jazz routines to live [[jazz]] music, performed by [[Harold Betters]] and bandleader [[Benny Benack]].<ref name="Williams /"> They practiced in the school cafeteria or in front of their dormitory.<ref name="Finder" />

During the [[1962]] season, the Steelerettes were accompanied by a squad of the NFL's first male cheerleaders, also Robert Morris students, known as the Ingots. The men fired a cannon filled with 12-gauge blanks when the Steelers scored, wearing uniforms of black slacks, white or gold shirts and hard hats. The male group disbanded at the end of one season.<ref name= "Finder">{{cite web|last=Finder|first=Chuck|title=Team's male squad had a blast, briefly|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sectionfront/life/teams-male-squad-had-a-blast-briefly-504178/|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|accessdate=1 May 2013}}</ref>