Super Bowl XXXVIII - Panthers vs. Patriots

January 30, 2004

Panthers Pride

Cheerleaders excited about getting to go to that away game in Houston

By Kim Underwood | JOURNAL REPORTER

Cathy-Lee Hambright and Teresa Jones may have Super Bowl rings in their futures. Hambright, who lives in Winston-Salem, and Jones, who is from Wilkesboro, are Carolina Panthers cheerleaders. Along with the other 33 TopCats, they are in Houston for the Super Bowl. If the Panthers beat the New England Patriots, each TopCat will receive a Super Bowl ring.

It will be the TopCats' first away game. Normally, they perform only at home games.

But this has been an extraordinary season for the Panthers, and the team has taken the TopCats along for the big game.

In the days before Jones and Hambright left, their excitement meters were spiking.

"On a scale of one to 10, it's a 10," Jones said.

"I think this is so beyond anything else I have ever done," Hambright said.

Jones, 25, now lives in Charlotte, where she is a certified-public accountant for Wachovia. She knows that, because of the stereotypes that some people have about cheerleaders, they may be surprised to find out that she is a CPA.

In her personal life, she said, being a CPA gets top billing.

"I usually try to make sure that people know that first," she said.

So the surprise is not that she is a cheerleader who is a CPA but that she is a CPA who is a cheerleader.

"They are like, 'Oh, really, you seem like such a normal person.'"

Which she is, she said.

Jones' mother, Chrystal Ward, describes her daughter as an independent person.

"She likes to set goals for herself and accomplish them," Ward said.

One goal Jones set was to become certified in scuba diving, which she has done since becoming a Panthers cheerleader. Jones likes adventure. She has also been skydiving.

Jones took 13 years of dance lessons when she was growing up in Wilkesboro. She became a cheerleader in junior-high school and cheered her way through Wilkes Central High School and Davidson College, where it is a varsity sport. She earned her master's degree at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Hambright, who graduated from Mount Tabor High School in 1999, turned 23 earlier this month. She has been teaching dance, and, in September, she opened her own dance studio - Dancers EDGE in Winston-Salem.

"All the kids at the studio think it is the coolest thing ever that I'm going to the Super Bowl," Hambright said.

Both women have been on the squad for two seasons. The TopCats are called cheerleaders, Hambright said, but that's something of a misnomer. Primarily, they perform dance routines.

Even though opening her own studio was demanding, Hambright never seriously considered not trying out for the TopCats for the 2003 season.

"I knew that I was definitely coming back if they would have me back," she said.

Already being a TopCat doesn't assure a place on the squad the following year. Women have to try out each year. They are chosen on the basis of personality, showmanship, dance skills and physical fitness.

"You always get nervous," Hambright said. "I think I was more so this time than the first time because I knew all I would miss out on."

Jones had a similar experience. She, too, was far more nervous trying out the second year.

"You know what you have to lose," Jones said. "You have more at stake."

This season, she said, she was able to relax and enjoy the experience more fully. As a new girl the first season, she felt a little intimidated and felt internal pressure about learning the routines and everything else.

"Being a rookie with such a talented and strong bunch of girls is a hard thing to do," Jones said. "I had a hard time opening up and feeling like I was myself."

Both women mentioned that they thoroughly enjoy all the other cheerleaders.

"We have a very cohesive group," Jones said.

"Believe it or not, every girl on that squad gets along," Hambright said.

This season brought special recognition for Hambright. The TopCats squad has five captains, and, at the squad's holiday party, Hambright received the Captains Choice Award.

It was not until one of the captains played off the name of Hambright's dance studio by saying, "When she dances, she will leave you on the edge of your seat," that Hambright thought it might be she.

"I was really excited," she said.

Neither woman is particularly intimidated about the prospect of performing before such a large television audience. Last year, more than 137 million people watched the Super Bowl.

You're aware of the people in the stands, Jones said, but not those watching on TV.

"It's much easier when it's TV because you just don't realize it," she said.

Boyfriends have come into both women's lives since they became TopCats.

Being a Panthers cheerleader had much to do with Jones meeting hers - Chris Ivens-Brown. As the executive chef manager for Bank of America in Charlotte, Ivens-Brown participated in an art-and-food charity fund-raiser that the TopCats also participated in.

Hambright is going out with Brandon Ward, a driver in the IPOWER DASH series, a racing circuit for cars with engines smaller than those used in NASCAR. A couple of days after the Super Bowl, Hambright will be going to Daytona, Fla., to see Ward race in the IPOWER DASH 150 on Feb. 8.

Ward and Hambright knew each other from middle school.

"I actually had a shop class with him," she said.

And then they went their separate ways. They reconnected seven or eight months ago.

Since the Panthers made it to the Super Bowl, Hambright has been on a number of local radio and television programs. Growing up, Hambright was shy. Traces of her shyness remain. But, with everything that has been going on, she has set them aside for the present.

"I don't have time to be shy," she said.

"This year has been fantastic," Jones said.

• Kim Underwood can be reached at (336) 727-7389 or at kunderwood@wsjournal.com