- Anjelica Jones became a Jacksonville Jaguar cheerleader 30 years after her mom, Paige Jones, pioneered the squad. Both spoke with PEOPLE about keeping the family cheer legacy alive.
- The mother-daughter duo discussed various ways the Jacksonville Roar has evolved over the course of three decades and revealed which aspects of the team have stood the test of time.
- As Anjelica prepares to audition for a consecutive year in an attempt to make the cheer squad, she and her mom chat about the tryout process today and how it compares to the 1995 season.
Team spirit was a born trait of Anjelica Jones, a Jacksonville Jaguar Cheerleader who joined the NFL franchise 30 years after her mom Paige pioneered the inaugural squad during the 1995-1996 season — yet still, she had to earn her stripes (or in this case, her spots).
Scoring a sought-after position on the 30-member team is highly competitive, though for Anjelica — who’s the product of dancer parents, including her father who co-owns the dance studio where she first started dating — the goal was driven by passion and legacy.
The squad unsurprisingly took many flips and turns over the past three decades, like changing its original team name from the “Roar of the Jaguars” in 2012 to its current name “Jacksonville Roar.”
However, Anjelica — who secured a spot on the squad in her first audition attempt, nostalgically aligning with the 30th anniversary of the Jags Cheer inception — tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview alongside her mom that several squad staples have stood the test of time.
courtesy Anjelica Jones
“30 years seems like a long time,” Paige tells PEOPLE reflecting back to days on the NFL sidelines at games. You’d never know, though, given her vivid memories on the squad.
Paige was among the very first to be named cheer captain of the Jacksonville Jaguars for the 1995 season, a significant time in football history as they became part of the NFL as an expansion team alongside the Carolina Panthers.
“The city was going crazy because it was all new. It was a new team and we had 800 girls try out,” the retired cheerleader says. “And it was a public tryout. It was in this big auditorium stadium where people could go watch,” she adds in contrast to their “closed auditions” today.
At the time of the PEOPLE interview, Anjelica was preparing for her consecutive attempt at securing a spot on the Jacksonville Roar, with auditions officially kicking off at the start of April and involving several rounds.
courtesy Anjelica Jones
Despite locking a spot on the squad for the 2024-2025 season, it’s mandatory that all athletes must re-audition if they’d like to be reconsidered for another year. This is a rule that’s “stayed the same” since the cheer team was first introduced, Paige makes clear.
Now, though, the Jacksonville Roar has a “five-year cap” for cheerleaders on the squad in comparison to those in the early years who were “on it for a little bit longer,” she notes.
While many associated the Jacksonville Roar with their spirit and pep on the field at games, both the mother-daughter duo emphasize that their duties upon upholding the Florida franchise’s cheerleader title expand beyond the sidelines, too.
“It’s how you’re represented in the community and how you’re seen through your peers,” Anjelica explains, noting that those factors are also highly considered throughout the audition process, in addition to a resume and interview with the coaches.
courtesy Anjelica Jones
Anjelica, who boasts over 50K followers on TikTok and Instagram, also stresses the importance of social media. “That’s a major aspect of every team and the relevance or how we’re portraying each cheerleader on the team,” she says, calling them just as crucial as the “dance and skill” aspects.
As for the core cheerleader duties on the field, the traditional responsibility to cheer — which is literally spelled out within the title itself — is surprisingly no longer, the mother-daughter duo clarify.
“We actually cheered. We would say, ‘Let’s go, Jags!'” Paige says of the first two seasons she was on the squad 30 years ago. “Now, they’re just more of a dance team. We did a lot of dancing, but we also did cheering.”
“We’re called cheerleaders, but it’s more of a dance team,” reiterates Anjelica.
courtesy Anjelica Jones
The Jacksonville Jaguar cheerleader uniforms have also evolved over the years. “New ones have totally been introduced,” Anjelica tells PEOPLE of the modern-day outfits they sport.
“We wore skirts and we wore the scrunchy socks with tennis shoes,” Paige recalls. “And it’s funny because a couple years after I quit cheering… they went to the boots and I was like, ‘I want to wear the boots’!”
Anjelica, meanwhile, is envious of the tennis shoes. “I’m like, ‘No, wait! We can get rid of the boots. We’ll take the shoes,'” she jokes.
However, there’s one element synonymous with both the uniform and Jacksonville Jaguar franchise as a whole that — to no surprise — has remained the same: jaguar print.
“I think the Jaguars have the most lore of any NFL team, especially jaguar print. It is so popular, especially right now!” Anjelica touts. “It was the ‘it’ thing — and so being a Jaguars cheerleader this year and this fashion season has been so fun because everyone was already wearing jaguar print.”
courtesy Anjelica Jones
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Jacksonville Jaguars cheer squad’s formation, the mother-daughter duo shared an extra special moment during alumni weekend this past NFL season.
“We got to surprise them and pull out all of the old uniforms and do a parade of the uniforms that they wore,” explains Anjelica, smiling beside Paige at the thought. “And so I begged and begged and begged and got to wear one of my mom’s old uniforms, which was just so special.”
The rookie adds, “And it was so exciting to see everyone come out of the elevators and we’re just standing there in the memorabilia and the uniforms that they cheered in and just how excited they were to see it… everyone is obsessed with their old uniforms. We are too.”
Additionally, they also got to perform on the field together!
“It was an honor to be with [Anjelica] and other friends that I cheered with and to have her on the field as well,” Paige says looking back. “Just really just spectacular and really heartwarming to do it together.”
When it comes to Jacksonville Roar hair and makeup requirements, certain guidelines have changed while some have evolved into key components of the cheerleaders’ appearance.
“They had a lot more, even down to their nail colors. They had to wear red nails!” says Anjelica of her mom’s years as a Jags cheerleader. Now, she says they’re encouraged to wear a shade that’s “natural” or “French.”
courtesy Anjelica Jones
There’s one makeup product, though, that’s been the same since year one. “A classic staple that has not changed is a red lip. We have worn a red lip the entire time,” Anjelica says on behalf of her fellow Jags cheerleaders.
“That red lip is really classic — and we’ve always stayed wearing it,” she emphasizes.
Hair, too, is a Jacksonville Roar element that’s undoubtedly crucial to the glam — but also, their routines and choreography!
“Has to be down. Nothing pinned back, nothing pulled back — but you’re allowed to wear it in any way,” Anjelica shares. “I can wear a nice blowout one way, tight curls the next or straight… I think that goes for just how incredible our coach is and how much she wants us to really be us that day.”
Paige adds, “All about a good hair flip, though!”
courtesy Anjelica Jones
For the daughter who’s grown up waltzing through the halls of her parents’ dance studio and seeing photos of her cheetah print-clad mom with pom poms at games, following in her Jags paw-print steps is a wild thought.
“It means so much to me, honestly,” Anjelica tells PEOPLE of continuing her mom’s cheerleading legacy three decades later. “It’s such an honor to do something that not only I find is super exciting and fun and I’m passionate about, but something that connects me even more with my mom.”
“It’s such a unique experience that not many people have and let alone have to share with someone they’re so close with,” she continues. “Everything fell into place where not only I got to do this, but I got to do it on an anniversary year and it be so much more special for my first season.”
Paige, who was born and raised in Jacksonville, calls it a “full-circle” moment with her daughter. “To now see how she represents it and how it’s important to her in the same concept, but different eras of life has just been really, really, really exceptional for both of us.”
“She’s more talented than me,” the proud mother says of her daughter. “She looks fabulous on the field.”
