By KAZUHIDE SETOGUCHI/ Staff Writer
June 11, 2020 at 07:00 JST
IBARAKI, Osaka Prefecture--Cheerleader Ayari Okada, who roots for the Elecom Kobe Finies in Japan's professional football X League, is once again close to fulfilling her dream of joining the NFL, after being cut in the final audition in 2019.
The 28-year-old resident of this western Japan city has zero intention of giving up anytime soon, refusing even to let the effects of the novel coronavirus on the popular U.S. sport wear her down.
In mid-February, Okada had traveled to the United States, where she intended to live in a homestay program while training for a cheerleading audition with the Denver Broncos.
But in late March she found everything she had planned for was out the window.
Immediately before the first round of the cheerleader audition of the NFL team, in-person auditions were called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Broncos instead requested applicants submit videos of themselves dancing to a set routine.
Okada was obsessive over capturing the perfect performance to send the club. She shot more than 100 versions of the three-minute dance routine on a smartphone, which she performed in the yard of the American family she was temporarily living with.
Made minus spectators and judges, Okada in the video trained her attention on nailing the sample routine and also spent time adjusting how she was illuminated under the sun.
The dancer’s keen attention to detail paid off.
In mid-April, Okada received an e-mail informing her that she had passed the first round to compete in the final audition, the second year in a row she has made it to the finals in the audition.
She took the Denver Broncos' test in 2019 but failed to clear the final round.
"I think they know how bad I want to be a member of the Broncos," Okada said in reference to the result.
Nearly 400 applicants try out in the annual auditions held by each NFL team, with only one in more than 10 candidates proving successful, according to the NFL Japan website.
After her rejection in the finals, Okada sought out others in the same boat on social media to share helpful information with one another.
"Unlike last time, when I felt a sense of isolation as a foreigner, I've built mental bonds with others," Okada said, renewing her determination to pass the audition.
The schedule for this year's final audition has yet to be determined due to the ongoing pandemic, so Okada has tentatively returned to Japan, where she keeps in shape by dancing and doing daily stretching and muscle training at home and in a park.
Okada, who is teaching dance to children as an instructor in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, and Hyogo Prefecture's Ashiya, said she hopes her students will get to see her perform for the Broncos in front of a large U.S. audience.
"I hope my persistence trying to fulfill my dream will inspire my students to do the same," she said.
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Ayari Okada, who advanced to the final round of NFL cheerleader auditions two years in a row, poses for a photo in February. (Provided by Ayari Okada)
