As a freshman in high school, Natalie Glanell was given an ultimatum: Quit competitive cheerleading or sacrifice a spot on the varsity lacrosse team.

Even though she practiced gymnastics since the first grade  — around the same time she first picked up a lacrosse stick — Glanell stuck with lacrosse and never looked back. That is, until this March, when the Syracuse University alumna and former SU women’s lacrosse player tried out and was selected for the Baltimore Ravens cheerleading squad.

Now the rookie cheerleader is gearing up for the NFL regular season, which kicks off Thursday.

“I needed something competitive and team-oriented back in my life,” said Glanell, a 2014 graduate of SU’s communication and rhetorical studies program. “I’ve found what I needed with the Ravens.”

After graduation, while many of her former high school and SU teammates had gone on to join the United States Women’s National Lacrosse Team, Glanell was still thinking about what her next move in the sport would be. It was around that time she ran into a former cheerleading teammate from back home.

 

“We stunted together and it was like no time had passed,” Glanell said. “I never thought I would cheer again, but it was like playing on the playground.”

The stunt partner had friends on the Ravens, and he pushed Glanell, a life-long Ravens fan, to try out. Although she had turned away from cheerleading nearly nine years earlier, Natalie thought it would be a great opportunity to pick it up again.

On the last day of tryouts, bleary-eyed from losing sleep the night before, Glanell approached a door that had a list of numbers, each representing a member of the 2015-16 squad. To her amazement, out of the hundreds of men and women who tried out, she was one of 11 rookies who made the cut.

“I was so nervous that I couldn’t even find my number on the door,” Glanell said. “I’m still in disbelief.”

The tryouts were long but exciting, and included physical and mental challenges, Glanell said. In the initial rounds, they quickly learned dances and stunts before performing for the judges at the end of the day, which she said was extremely nerve-wracking. Then the would-be cheerleaders were interviewed and given physicals to make sure they were in their best shape.

“The team wants to give the uniform to someone they can trust to represent them,” Glanell said. “It’s just like at SU, where the jersey reflects the school.”

Glanell, a Maryland native, has spent most of her life on a team. It started when her older sister began playing lacrosse, which like many other things her sister did, inspired Glanell to try out the sport.

Debra Glanell, the girls’ mother, said that her sister helped motivate Glanell. “There was always a little bit of competition between her and her sister. Natalie wanted to be the same as or better than her,” she said.

That motivation, and a love for the game, pushed Glanell to practice constantly. That drive landed her a varsity position as a freshman in high school.

But she could only join the team if she dropped competitive cheerleading, a sport she did since middle school, due to their conflicting schedules.

“I still loved cheerleading, but I was extremely happy with picking lacrosse,” Glanell said.

Lacrosse also proved to be the better choice because it challenged Glanell’s high-intensity athleticism, her mother added.

“Cheerleading is difficult, too, but in lacrosse she was always running and practicing, which suited her natural athleticism,” Debra Glanell said.

The move paid off for Glanell, who was recruited to Syracuse in her junior year of high school.

Before Glanell got the offer for SU, her mother reassured her that even though many of her teammates had already been recruited, that it didn’t make her any less talented.

“You always tell kids that kind of thing,” she said.

Although unexpected, Natalie said she was thrilled that a top Division I school was showing interest in her. After a visit, she fell in love with Syracuse and committed.

When she came to SU, Glanell kept up the hard work. She helped bring the team to three NCAA Final Fours and one championship game. Even though they lost that game, Glanell’s senior season ended with a school-record 21 wins.

Regy Thorpe, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the SU women’s lacrosse team, said he saw Glanell as a true defender in all her time on the team. “She had great speed and was tough,” he said. During her four years at SU, he said he saw tremendous growth in her maturity on and off the field and watched her grow into her starting position.

Now that Glanell has exchanged her orange jersey for a purple uniform, she said she’s hoping to make friends and engage in some healthy competition.

Even though she’s in her rookie season, she said she plans on her pushing herself just as hard as when she was a lacrosse player.

“I’m used to being on the field playing, not on the sidelines,” Glanell said. “But I will always be at home on the turf.”

 

Published on September 8, 2015 at 10:14 pm

Contact Delaney: dovanwey@syr.edu