Former CFL cheerleader now cheers for the RCMP
By Rheanna Philipp
Careers
James in action on the field during a Roughriders game.
Image by Roy Antal
October 10, 2024
Content
Jen James bleeds green. With a love of Canadian football that goes back three generations, the RCMP employee spent five years in the nineties cheering for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Today, James is still holding fast to her family's traditions even after trading in her pom-poms for an RCMP ID card in the late 2000s.
Gazette writer Rheanna Philipp spoke with the former cheerleader about her love of the game, travelling with the team across Canada and the United States, and why she made the switch to become a public service employee with the RCMP.
Listen to our feature audio story below.
Transcript - Audio story: Jen James
Narrator: Jen James' mother glides from table to table picking up coffee cups. Embroidered on the lapel of her uniform is text that reads "La Salle Restaurant". The bell that hangs over the entrance chimes, as the door opens to reveal her regulars, a group of football players from the Saskatchewan Roughriders team.
James who now works as a suitability reviewer with the National Recruiting Process Centre, grew up with a firm love for the Riders. But before she was a James, she was a Kennedy. And the Kennedy women are die-hard Rider fans.
Jen James: OK well, it starts with my grandma, who was the chaperone for Miss Saskatchewan Roughrider when they went to the Miss Grey Cup competition. She did it for several years - two of her girls won Miss Grey Cup, so that was super fun. She was also on the board of directors and season ticket holder since before I was born. So, then it went down to my mom, who is just a huge fan. She watches it, well,she did watch it on her little tiny TV and you couldn't talk. You couldn't fast forward through commercials. You just listen to everything and she knew everything about every player in the CFL, so that was fun.
Narrator: James loved the Riders so much that she decided to try out for the cheer team.
Jen James: I thought they looked good and wanted to be a part of it, and so I tried out.
Narrator: The Dream Team was the cheerleading squad for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 80s and 90s.
Jen James: My first tryout was in '89, but I got scared so I quit. Like I made the team but I didn't even go to the first practice or anything, I quit. So, then I waited and of course we went to grey cup '89 and won so I was kicking myself.
Narrator: It was finally time for tryouts for the 1991 season and James laced up her runners, threw on a baggy T-shirt and gym shorts and headed to Taylor Field. She didn't want to miss out again. She had made the cut. Jen James was now an official member of the Dream Team. She continued to cheer for a couple years and then took a year-long break in '93 to have her daughter. But she missed it so much that she decided to go back and cheer for another three years.
Jen James: It was pretty awesome; it was pretty fun. It was a lot of work, a lot of hard work.
Narrator: James would practice once a week for four hours with the Dream Team. But, if there was a big event they would throw in another practice for good measure. The girls wore green and white figure skating style outfits with white sneakers and ankle socks. They each had a pair of green and white metallic pompoms to drum up excitement as they cheered.
Throughout her time on the team, James travelled across Canada. She also made a few stops in the U.S., notably Sacramento and Birmingham, but those trips were more rare. At one of the Roughrider home games, she had a special responsibility that gave her a debut on late-night television.
Jen James: I got the opportunity to escort Dick Assman to center field to do the coin toss, and that appeared on David Letterman. And then I taped my soaps over that.
Narrator: At the end of the '95 season, James decided that it was time for her cheer career to come to an end. She planned to move on to different things. But, her love for the Riders brought her back a few years later. James was hired as the receptionist for the Riders in the early 2000s. She did everything from organizing administrative services, engaging with promoters, to preparing the playbooks for gameday.
Jen James: It was, I mean it was great, every time people came in, they were always happy. Where my desk was situated, the ticket office was right beside my desk so I got to see everybody... But it was awesome cause you also establish a rapport with the players right.
Narrator: James continued to work administrative jobs over the next decade. In search of a change, one day she stumbled across an RCMP posting. She immediately applied. Within 8 months she had her security interview and was hired as a fulltime public service employee.
Jen James: I went in for my security interview and then a couple weeks after that I got a call from one of the managers and I was hired. I was sitting in Wendy's with my girlfriend and I answered the phone… and it was my new boss from the RCMP telling me that he would like to me to come in to meet them.
Narrator: James was hired as an office administrator for the Grounds Department. After 2 years she decided it was time for something new. She had a brief stint in Records, but ultimately ended up at the National Recruiting Processing Center (NRPC) for the RCMP. She has been with the RCMP for 16 years, where she now works as a suitability reviewer in the Suitability Unit of the NRPC.
Jen James: Well, I'm in recruiting suitability, recruiting, and so my favourite parts are dealing with the applicants, the prospective cadets. I I just. I just love it. Like when I was in the processing, I got to be the one who would call them and say, hey, you're going to troop. You made it. I don't get to do that now, but I I get to have an interview with them. So, I enjoy doing that. I enjoy writing the reports about what I find.
Narrator: James in fact, grew up wanting to be a writer; she went to college for pre-journalism, but life took her in a different direction.
Jen James: I wanted to write books about, serial killers - nature versus nurture and all that kind of stuff. So now I'm not writing about that, but I get to write my story using the facts from the interview, so I still get to write my stories. Just it's not fiction. So yeah, I love it. I love it. I love it.
Narrator: James is responsible for conducting 3-to-4-hour long interviews with prospective cadets. She then transforms details from the interviews turning them into comprehensive stories. Even though James isn't writing gripping true stories about serial killers, she uses her writing skills to draft detailed reports that guide the selection process. These reports play a significant role in hiring the very officers that keep communities across Canada safe.
Jen James: Would I recommend working for the RCMP? Yes, absolutely I would. The job security is amazing. The freedom as far as the, the time off that you get including the family days, including the sick days. Opportunity for advancement is insane. There's always acting opportunities and and I mean, I don't know. I love it, especially being on Depot, it's a whole different world. It's like its own little world in there and it's really cool to be a part of that and see all of that happening.
Narrator: For over 15 years, James has thrived in various roles within the RCMP, where she says celebration, growth and a strong sense of community are central. Like her experience with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the camaraderie and shared goals at the RCMP have kept her motivated and passionate about her work. James' lifelong enthusiasm toward the CFL is just as present in her work ethic at the RCMP - where she continues to contribute to a culture she feels values, tradition, and excellence, much like her beloved Riders.
