Penguinettes pump up the crowd

Before and during every Youngstown State University home football game, the band and cheerleaders perform to get the crowd going.
There is, however, another piece to the puzzle: the Penguinettes, a group of majorette-like dancers that cheer, twirl batons and pump up the crowd.
The Penguinettes, made up of eight students, attend each home game.
"We go over halftime and pregame, and we meet with the band, march through the tailgate, do the icebreaker and then start the pregame," said junior Erika Aulizia.
As a third-year performer, she is also captain. She said more goes into the performance than spectators actually see.
"You have a lot of work. You have to make up the choreography, like get the girls placed and get all their outfits together and buy them new things," Aulizia said.
Becoming a Penguinette takes a lot of time as well, she added.
"You have to learn how to do it; you have to take classes," Aulizia said. "Our adviser has her own studio. A lot of us have taken classes off of her before."
One part of the Penguinette routine is learning the baton, which Aulizia said is mostly in the wrist.
Sophomore Ashley Bowers said the baton involves a lot of precision and dedication.
"It definitely is not as easy as it looks because you have to make sure you're always holding the baton and not dropping it on the field," Bowers said.
Bowers is in her first year of performing and said she wants to do it again next year.
"I love it," she said. "It's a great group of girls, and it's a great thing to get involved with. We're all really close."
The Penguinettes purchase uniforms with the help of local donors, Aulizia said.
The Penguinettes traditionally wear red, white and black dresses with white boots, while a Pete the Penguin tattoo adorns their cheeks. They also carry batons for the first half of the game.
During the halftime show, they wear the same outfit but switch into jazz shoes.
After halftime, they switch to replica YSU football jerseys with the number "00" and the name "Penguinettes."
The Penguinettes begin their routine with the band at Stambaugh Stadium approximately four hours before each game. From there, they lead the band down to Bliss Hall and back.
After that, they march to the YSU Bookstore, turn around for a "band icebreaker" and march once again to the stadium for pregame ceremonies with stops in between at the tailgating lots.
"It's really fun," junior Caty Moran said. "We feed off of the energy because they are all excited."
Normally, the icebreaker is where the YSU band performs with a local high school band. There was not one at Saturday's game, but Austintown Fitch High School and Champion High School have participated in the past.
The Penguinettes lead the band onto the field and help get the crowd involved, said head football coach Eric Wolford.
"I think any time you get a chance to look at the support staff we have — whether it's band, cheerleading, Penguinettes, whatever — I think those people are just as important to the team as anybody else," Wolford said. "I think this is a community effort, a team effort, and that's what it's going to take."
Brandt Payne, director of athletic bands, said the Penguinettes are part of the band.
"They really enhance our visual presence on the field in performance," he said. "They have a lot of fun, but they're also very serious, and that's what they ultimately represent at YSU."
In his second year at YSU, Payne said the Penguinettes are "extremely reliable."
"They work hard [and] they are very serious about what they do, and I think what's most important is they have a lot of fun," Payne said.