The best part, according to the girls on the team, was seeing attractive football players like Terrell Owens, Jeremy Shockey and Peyton Manning up close on the field.

The 12-member spirit squad plus five song leaders were invited to perform in the halftime show. The invitation came after the group won the title of "Camp Champions" at a United Spirit Association camp during August in Santa Barbara. At camp the girls were ranked in the varsity category, even though the majority of members are new to the team. The athletic bunch received superior marks in everything from dances and stunts to cheerleading skills.

Their reward was spending Feb. 5­10 at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel on the island of Oahu. By day, the girls attended a luau, took private hula-dancing lessons, went shopping, ate at Planet Hollywood and tanned on the beach. But by night—for three days and more than four hours per day—the girls practiced the routine they would perform during halftime.

The girls were supported by parent chaperones, their coach Stephanie Williams and spirit adviser Gretchen Hill, a 1982 Los Gatos High School graduate.

Sophomore Jacqueline Williams, the team captain, who is also Stephanie's younger sister, said the dance they learned for the performance was easier than their normal routines but harder to learn in such a short time.

"We got there not quite knowing what we were going to do," she said. "I think it was a good team-bonding experience because before that we had only been at camp together."

The two-part, approximately five-minute dance, which was not televised, was themed "25 years in Hawaii," since this was the 25th year the all-star game was held there.

"Even though they didn't show us on television, there was the feeling that we accomplished something," said junior Danielle Dimick. "Just being on the field, there were all these cameras. You felt like you were a star."

The routine—arranged around a stage—also included a rainbow assortment of flags. And to fit the theme, the girls performed wearing pink and yellow sarongs.

"There were so many more people [in the audience] than at high school games," Williams said, referring to the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, set against a background of blue skies, the ocean and palm trees.

While performing at football and basketball games can be intimidating, Williams said, performing in front of a stadium of strangers can be even more challenging. But the hardest part, Williams said, was coming back to school and facing all the homework she'd missed, including tests. The team has a cumulative grade point average of 3.3, according to Stephanie Williams, and grades are part of staying on the squad.