KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Just about everything at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, has looked different this football season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Coaches wear face masks, the crowd is limited to 22 percent and cheerleaders are no longer on the sideline. Instead, they’re standing on the Drum Deck.
41 Action News interviewed Taylor who's a third-year cheerleader for the Chiefs. Chiefs policy is for cheerleaders not to share their last names for safety reasons.
“It is its own unique experience. I've just loved every bit of it,” Taylor said.
Chiefs Cheer Director Stephanie Judah said the pandemic forced her to hold try-outs virtually. The team used video chat software to prepare for the season before eventually meeting in large, physically distant settings.
“You just have to persevere and find a way to make things happen in a safe way,” Judah said while highlighting the word persevere.
So much of being a Chiefs cheerleader happens off the field away from game day. Cheerleaders organize a clinic for children, visit schools, host Play 60 events and so much more.
Throughout the pandemic, the team found ways to use Zoom and other video chat platforms to make connections with fans.
“We knew things were going to be different, but that didn't mean that we couldn't change with the time because the fans mean so much to us the community means so much to us,” Taylor said.
Judah believes this team of cheerleaders will go down in history for what it accomplished on and off the field during a pandemic.
“My heart bursts of being fully proud because it hasn't been easy,” Judah said. “And they have done it with such grace and it's just it's a really awesome thing.”
