Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and Tech Spirit Squads break the mold

Sydney Holmes, Staff Writer
Texas Tech Daily Toreador
March 3, 2011

Women love to hate them; men fantasize about them. They’ve been around since 1960, and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are often thought of as all looks and no brains.

Shelley Roper-McCaslin, head recruiter for the DCC, came to Texas Tech to dispel this myth as well as team up with Tech’s Spirit Squads to promote school pride and enthusiasm.

Roper-McCaslin said she is impressed by the administration within the Spirit Squads at Tech and has had her eye on the pom and cheer squads for a while.

“Each year I will choose a couple of campuses that I would like to visit. The pom and the cheer squad (at Tech) are very established,” she said. “It’s worth it to us to reach out to those established groups because we find that they make excellent additions to our squad.”

Roper-McCaslin said she is aware of the high standards placed upon students at Tech, and she appreciates that students are being challenged.

“Their standards are high, as are ours,” she said. “(Well-established groups) understand about high expectations, and the performance quality, of course, is better.”

As far as the stereotype all cheerleaders are no more than a pretty face, Roper-McCaslin said she does not expect to see the perception change any time soon, though she would like it to. However, she is confident in the sophisticated nature of the girls on her squad.

“Our young women are very well-rounded,” she said. “They are bright and beautiful and know how to represent the Dallas Cowboys football team very well.”

Mia Mendez, a sophomore nutrition dietetics major from Mount Vernon, is not a member of a Tech Spirit Squad, but she was not shy about her aspirations to represent the Dallas Cowboys.

“DCC is definitely something I plan to try out for, so this is a great opportunity that Tech has provided for all the girls, pom or not, to get a heads up on some information,” Mendez explained. “You don’t usually get that when it comes to something as prestigious as DCC.”

Mendez, who recently auditioned for a dance minor, said even though she’s not majoring in dance, the art is an important part of her life.

“(Dancing) is something for me,” she said. “I’m going to school for a different degree, but I dance for me. It makes me happy, and I really enjoy it.”

Kathleen Busch, a pom squad member, shares Mendez’s sentiment when it comes to dance. The junior dance major and Plano native said oftentimes students confuse the pom and cheer squads.

“Everyone thinks that we’re the cheerleaders because we do the same kind of thing,” Busch said. “We don’t really get that respect level (we deserve) of dancing and being more performance-based than cheer.”

Busch plans to try out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders after graduation but said she is apprehensive.

“I’ve had tons of friends go through (the audition process), and a lot of them didn’t make it,” she said. “I just know it’s a long process, and it’s very stressful because they’re looking for so many different things.”

Roper-McCaslin said although she can’t pinpoint one particular quality that is important in a DCC member, through the selection process she has noticed one common thread.

“Certainly confidence,” she said.