Cheering for a Special Lifestyle

It’s not all pom-poms and dancing for hard-working Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

By Tang Zhe
China Daily

Malia Morales is living proof that cheerleading is more than just pretty faces, well-shaped figures and hot dancing.

Nicole Hamilton (left) and Malia Morales of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders pose during their trip to Beijing as American Airlines ambassadors last month.

During the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad’s recent visit to Beijing, Morales, a 27-year-old on her first overseas tour, shared her experiences about her profession and also life beyond the pom-poms and high leg kicks.

“A lot of students on our squad go to school during the day and practice at night. They get home around midnight and do all their homework from midnight to 2am for the next day. Several of us have fulltime jobs,” said Morales, who graduated from Stanford University with two bachelors degree, and is now a financial advisor with an investment firm.

“I’m in the office all day long, working with clients and then I go straight to practice which goes all night it’s non-stop all day for me.”

The Dallas Cowboys, one of the most successful teams in the National Football League (NFL) with five Super Bowl titles, set a rigorous standard for cheerlead and make the squad never comes easy.

Only 36 girls are recruited out of 600 after 10-hour-a-day training sessions which include long-distance running, aerobic exercises and at least 100 push-ups.

The tough training is in preparation for a hectic schedule which the dancers face once recruited.

The squad often travels throughout the US and around the world and sometimes the cheerleaders average only four hours sleep per day over the course of two weeks.

The most difficult part for cheerleaders is balancing work or school, a personal life and cheerleading.

“I cheered from 2006 to 2007, which were great years in the (stock) market,” Morales said. “Then I retired to focus on my career when the market crashed in ’08, and, in May, 2009, I started preparing for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders’ try-outs when things started to rebound again.”

Cheerleading brought joy during a time of career turmoil.

Recognized for their energetic dancing and spirit, Morales and her teammates are world famous.

“I once went to an interview and was speaking to a director who would eventually decide whether the company would hire me,” said Morales. “However, the first thing he said to me is ‘are you really a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader’?”

For the next 30 minutes, it was the only topic discussed and she was eventually hired.

“Becoming a cheerleader is what I am most proud of in my life because the experience has allowed me to enrich the lives of others as well as allow myself to grow,” said Nicole Hamilton, who is in her last year as a Cowboys cheerleader. “When you get over the fatigue and tiredness, it becomes easy and then you actually enjoy what you are doing.”