Thursday, March 1, 2007 - 09:31AM

Want to know more about the lives of your Montreal Alouettes cheerleaders? Read on to find out what they do, what they like and what makes them who they are…

Cheerleader profile: Dancing with Sonia

By Eric Forest,
MontrealAlouettes.com


Mademoiselle Alouette : Sonia
Montréal - Heading into her seventh year with the Als’ cheer team, Sonia has become a leader among her teammates and one of the four team captains.
She studied at UQAM, earning a bachelor’s degree in actuarial studies and a job as an analyst for Morneau Sobeco's pension plans administration department.
"I have always had a passion for numbers and calculations. I like to dig into something in order to find the solution and get the answer. It gives me a personal challenge and I seem to work a lot harder when I’m challenged," she said.
Working with a large group of coworkers, her position consist of collecting clients' data, coordinating, consulting and making sure that every calculation between them and her company is right. Even though she has a heavy workload, she still finds time to relax and dance with the Alouettes' cheerleaders.

"Surprisingly, it's quite easy to combine both. My schedule is flexible and my bosses understand that our practices sometime finish late at night. I never had problems attending games, which is great!"

With all the numbers and equations she does every day, cheering with the Alouettes clears her mind. And like most other girls on the team, her dancing background is very interesting.
Sonia was an avid figure skater for 16 years, competing from the age of four to 20 with Terrebonne Figure Skating Club. An excellent athlete, she was invited to study in Boucherville's Sport-Études program, combining both her passion for skating and the importance of education. She and her partner won several competitions over the years, going as far as winning the ice dancing bronze at the 1998 Canadian National Figure Skating Championship.

She even had the chance to train with her idols, Canadian couple Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz.
"They were so good! They reached so many of their goals and showed a lot of pride in being Canadian. We had the same coaches and I always had a warm feeling skating and practicing with them. It was unreal," she said.
"I loved performing and dancing in front a of crowd and was lucky enough to be selected with the Alouettes at my first audition. With the dance classes I've taken over the years, it is simply a passion that I can't see myself stopping."

As a cheer captain, Sonia served as a judge at last week’s cheer auditions.
"The tryouts always go smoothly, but being a judge brings its share of stress. It’s always hard to choose, our director, Annie Larouche, helped make the right decisions,” Sonia said. “We will have as good a team this year as we’ve ever had. I’m excited.”