The dance team for MLS Chivas USA is in midseason form! Click here to check out photos from their home game on 4/21. For this game, they wore their brand new promo dresses, which are stinkin’ adorable and were a big hit with the fans.

Click here for more photos from the game!

The Houston Dynamo opened their new stadium and reader Scott was there and shares some of his photos of the 2012 Houston Dynamo Girls.

[Dynamo Girls Gallery]

[Houston Dynamo Girls]

Once upon a time, almost half of the teams in Major League Soccer had dance teams. I’m sad to report that we’ve lost one more. The Columbus Crew recently announced their decision to disband their dance team, the Crewzers. The Crew has made the following statement:

“Although the Crewzers have been a significant part of the Crew history and valued ambassadors for the team, we made the difficult decision to discontinue the program following the 2011 season. This decision was not made without thorough research with our fans and research provided by Major League Soccer. We clearly discovered that our fans were looking for a more authentic soccer experience at our games, and wanted to see scores from around the league, first-half highlights, and soccer-related content during halftime. Moving forward, we plan to create and deliver these authentic soccer elements.”

As with most “official statements” of this kind, there are a lot of words that don’t say much of anything. It certainly doesn’t explain the real reason why the Crewzers, who were independently funded and did not rely up the Crew for financial support, were let go. The dance team’s management and veteran members are greatly saddened by the decision.

There are only two dance teams remaining in the league, the Dynamo Girls from Houston, and the ChivaGirls from Chivas USA. (However, FC Dallas and New England Revolution do have non-dancing promo teams, the FC Dallas Girls, and the Rev Girls, respectively.)
Update: The San Jose Earthquakes also have a promo team, the Shaker Girls. (Thanks for the heads-up, Mia!)

A look back at the Crewzers in action

The MLS season is under way and we want to thank FC Dallas Girls Director and good friend of this site Tamara Jenkins for sharing some photos of her 2012 squad. FC Dallas opened the season on March 11 and introduced a few new FCDG as well as some familiar faces. Several dancers from the Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dance Team are on the team this season.

Former Captain Rebekah at end of the year party -Thanks for all your help this season

Captain Monica

Four-year veteran Shannon

Genie and Stephanie - Both former Dallas Cowboys Rhythm and Blue Dancers (Stephanie is also a former FC Dallas Girl - 2008)

Veterans Shannon & Lauren

Rookies Stephanie K, Callie and Crystal

Shannon, Stephanie K, Lauren, Crystal and Callie

Stephanie, Callie, Lauren R, Shannon, Lauren C and Crystal

We’ll be sure to let everyone know when the FC Dallas Girls relaunch their webpage with new photos and bios.

KHOU.com
March 10, 2012

Dancers from all over the Houston area gathered at the University of Houston-Downtown Student Life Center Saturday to try out for the 2012 Dynamo Girls squad.

[photo gallery]

News Fix Houston
KIAH
March 12, 2012

[Watch the video]

HOUSTON, TX—The annual Houston Dynamo Girls auditions took center stage on Saturday, March 10 at the University of Houston downtown campus.

The Dynamo finalized their roster on the soccer field, now it’s the ladies turn to complete their line-up on the dance floor.

“When you start going you’re like, ‘am I getting it? Oh my God.’ You kind of like freak out,” Alejandra Leal, a Dynamo Girls hopeful, said with a smile.

It would be easy to freak out, especially since there’s “a lot of choreography that they’re actually learning [on the spot],” Luisa Baquero, a Dynamo Girls co-captain, said.

They’re learning fast in hopes of earning their spot to perform at Dynamo home games.

The Dynamo Girls roster isn’t finalized just yet.

“We’ll have two weeks of interviews and after that we’ll hold our final auditions on March 24, and we’ll make our selection the following day,” Marilu Harman, a Houston Dynamo dance team director and former Dallas Mavericks dancer, said.

OK ladies when is the last time the Dynamo won the MLS Cup?

“Now you’re putting me on the spot,” said Leal smiling when asked by the Fix.

Tabitha Fuller, a Dynamo Girls hopeful, responded with “2007″. That’s correct. In fact, the Dynamo won back-to-back MLS Cups in 2006 and 2007.

“If you’re going into a Houston soccer team, you need to know something about it,” Lithia Garcia, a Dynamo Girls hopeful and student at University of Houston, said.

Garcia is right, too.

Best of luck to the ladies, and, hey, if things don’t work out, “You’ve got to keep getting out auditioning, taking classes. The more you try it, the closer you get to your goal. And you can be a professional cheer leader if that’s what you ultimately want to be,” said Harman.
To whoever ultimately makes the cut, congratulations from the Fix.

Last Saturday, the Houston Dynamo held their annual Dynamo Girls Tryouts, presented by Palais Royal for the 2012 season. More than 100 girls attended the tryouts, but only 40 were selected for the final audition to be held on March 24.

Anne Marie Conde selected as one of eight new members.
Norton Patch
March 15, 2012

The New England Revolution soccer team selected eight new members to add to its “Rev Girl” squad Tuesday night during a heated audition at the Greatest Bar. Anne Marie Conde, a Norton native, beat out the competition by landing a final spot as a new 2012 Rev Girl.

A slew of celebrity judges including The Voice’s James Massone from Wakefield, NESN Daily’s Dara McIntosh and BostonTweet’s Tom O’Keefe helped to narrow the field of 17 Rev Girl prospects down to the final eight, based on three audition rounds that tested their minds, team spirit and ability to excite a crowd.

During the first round, emcee Dave Russo, a local comedian and DirtyWater TV personality, quizzed the 17 contestants on Revolution team trivia. Following the team trivia, the contestants broke off into groups, where they were given 10 minutes to learn the team chant from veteran Rev Girls, and went on to perform for the judges and crowd.

The third component of the audition was to judge the girls on their fan involvement. One of the primary tasks of the Rev Girls is to act as brand ambassadors at community events, so candidates were turned loose on the crowd and asked to interact, engage and handout swag. It was a close competition and in the end the following prospects prevailed.

Katerina Akrivlellis (Dover, Mass.) – 20

Anne Marie Conde (Norton, Mass.) – 25

Kimberly Howe (Boston, Mass.) – 22

Holly Johnson (Tyngsborough, Mass.) – 26

Kelsey Kneeland (Shrewsbury, Mass.) – 22

Anjha Thomas (Ashland, Mass.) – 21

Danielle Tousignane (Chelmsford, Mass.) – 22

Jessica May Wright (Manchester, N.H.) – 21