Pro Bowl Spotlight: Casey follows her dance dreams to Hawaii, as rep for the Houston Texans Cheerleaders

Casey once told her family that she was going to see the world one beach at a time. Dancing for Royal Caribbean cruises allowed Casey to see quite a few, but being the Pro Bowl selection for the Houston Texans Cheerleaders allows her to cross a few Hawaiian sandy locales off of her list. Today is Pro Bowl Sunday, when the NFL showcases its top talent, including Casey. UltimateCheerleaders is honored to learn about Casey’s journey, including being one of the legendary Kilgore Rangerettes. To summarize her Texans Cheerleaders experience briefly is basically impossible for Casey, as she says, “It has been so inspiring and all-encompassing.” And it should be even more so after today, Casey’s chance to shine in the Pro Bowl!

With the support of her family and inspirational dance teachers, Casey’s first solo performance exemplified her future success in dance. “I remember my first solo at the age of nine,” Casey recalls. “I danced to ‘Ease on Down the Road’ from the musical, The Wiz. I dressed as a scarecrow and my dad even built a scarecrow stand for me. I pretended to awaken and move for the first time, then I fell off the stand and began to dance! I had so much character that at the end of the competition, I actually received a special award from the judges that they named the ‘Cool Rags Award.’ I’ve come a long way from being a scarecrow and I couldn’t have done it without the guidance and knowledge I received from so many caring educators. I’ve been blessed with talented and giving dance teachers that all played a part in helping me chase my dreams.”

Casey participated in dance for as long as she can remember. “My parents enrolled me in dance at the age of three and I was immediately in love,” Casey recalls. “It wasn’t until high school that I realized that this was not just something I enjoyed, but that I excelled in the art. My high school dance team director encouraged me to continue dancing in college and led me towards the Kilgore College Rangerettes. That was my first audition and the process lasted a week but I made it! While on this team I served as Lieutenant and Head Swingster of the specialty group (note: the Rangerette Swingsters are a specialty jazz dance group, and being a Swingster is considered an honor as they are considered an elite performance group within the Rangerettes). Being a Rangerette taught me so much more than just dance, it made me into the lady I am today.”

“After Kilgore, I transferred to The University of Texas at Austin and completed my Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre and Dance,” continues Casey, “and was a member of the Roustabouts Dance Company, which is a hip-hop based performance group.”

After UT, Casey was sailing off to new horizons. “After graduation, I was employed by Royal Caribbean Productions and I informed my family that I would be seeing the world one beach at a time!” shares Casey. “Once this contract finished, I wanted to return to my roots in Houston and become an NFL cheerleader for my hometown team, the Houston Texans. I’m one of the lucky ones; I’ve followed my heart my entire life and it’s lead me right where I’m supposed to be and doing what I love. Not many people can say they are that fortunate but I love dance for all of the opportunities it’s opened up for me; be it the amazing people I’ve met and incredible places I’ve been.”

Cheerleading and football are staples of Texas’s identity. “Football is definitely the favorite pastime in Texas,” Casey says. “We’ve got our weekends planned from fall to winter with Fridays at high school football games, Saturday watching college games, and Sundays, I’ll be at the Texans game.”

So what was Casey’s first Texans Cheerleader tryout like? “Looking back, I would say that I experienced my first audition for the Houston Texans Cheerleaders with bittersweet cluelessness,” responds Casey. “I didn’t quite know what I was getting into and hadn’t done much planning beforehand. All I did was borrow an outfit from a friend and had to pin it to make it fit. I wanted to make the team but at that point the odds seemed slim since there were over 1,000 beautiful ladies. I was honored to be selected to join the team at my first tryout and to my amazement, my rookie year was so much more than I could have ever imagined.”

This season, Casey is in her second season with the HTC, but try-out number two was not a piece of cake. “Returning to audition for the next year meant the stakes were upped because I knew exactly everything that I had to lose,” Casey reflects. “Walking into tryouts with my fingers crossed hoping to become a veteran was much more nerve-wracking than the first time through.”

Well, seems like things have worked out during Casey’s sophomore season with the HTC, including being awarded the Pro Bowl selection. “Our coach Alto Gary, made the Pro Bowl announcement after practice one night,” Casey remembers. “We had voted a couple weeks before, so it had slipped my mind and I assumed the cheerleader that was going already knew it was her, and this announcement was for the rest of our team. To hear her say my name was a complete shock! I’ve never been so honored as to have my peers choose me to represent them at the Pro Bowl. I give this team all of my passion and joy and for my friends to recognize that and reward me so dearly is nothing less than a blessing.”

Not only a blessing, but her trip will be a great new adventure for the former cruise line performer. “I never have been to Hawaii so what a treat this trip will be,” Casey says. “I can’t wait to get to know all of the other cheerleaders and perform with them. The Pro Bowl is going to be such a special experience and I get to share it with a team full of new friends.”

So if you are in Honolulu for the game, you will easy spot Casey’s beautiful curly blonde hair. Seems like most people with curly hair wish they had straight hair, and vice versa. What does Casey think of her lovely looping tresses? “My hair didn’t become this curly until middle school and I had no clue what to do with it!” exclaims Casey. “I would try my best to straighten it out, but for the most part, I was unsuccessful and ended up with a poof ball on my head. After a couple years of trial and error, I finally began to figure out how to control the curls which helped me to appreciate them. Now, I love when other females ask me for advice on how to ‘tame’ their curls because there aren’t many of us sporting our natural hair.”

But as Shania sang, it is a woman’s prerogative to change her hair up once in a while. “Now don’t get me wrong, I straighten my hair maybe once a year for some diversity,” Casey continues. “It’s become an unofficial tradition for our Christmas party. But I love my curls and think they serve as an extension of my personality: lively and unique.”

And as one would expect from a cheerleader from the hometown of Humble, Texas, Casey also loves being part of Texans Cheerleaders events that assist the community. “The Salute to Service game is my favorite theme!” Casey shares. “There are so many fun appearances throughout the week to honor our servicemen and women and I try to sign up for as many as I can. I’ve participated in the Houston Veterans Day Parade with the Wounded Warriors Project. I attended when the Texans hosted a BBQ for our military at Reliant Stadium; complete with tailgating and live music. Also we hosted Stars & Strikes, a bowling event where current and retired military get to bowl on teams with Texans players and cheerleaders. I love any opportunity to honor our military personnel for their service and to be able to do so with the Texans makes these events even more exciting.”

In addition, Casey loves being able to be assist another favorite of her causes. “One of my favorite charities that I have created a relationship with through the Texans is the Brookwood Community,” explains Casey. “This center provides a continuous education for adults with disabilities while also creating jobs and activities for them. We had the pleasure to visit them and create a Houston Texans pep rally. This is such a vibrant and caring group and they were so thoughtful to send us home with mugs they had created and painted themselves.”

Well, certainly Pro Bowler Casey will also take home mementos and memories from her Hawaii experience also. As one would expect of a Texan from a hometown named for a man with the name “Pleasant Humble,” the Texans saw through Casey’s self-denoted try-out “bittersweet cluelessness” that she truly was lively and unique, with talent, dedication, and teamwork to be a sidelines NFL star. Casey’s journey from Oz Scarecrow to Rangerette to cruise lines to Pro Bowl Hawaii via Reliant Stadium exemplify someone with a big heart, lots of courage, and intelligence to follow her dreams right down the yellow brick road and over Hawaii’s rainbows. Pro Bowl fans will get to see Casey clicking her heals on the sidelines, amongst the windswept palms of local beaches.

Thanks SO MUCH Casey for taking time from your busy schedule to share with UltimateCheerleaders your experiences! And of course, many thanks to the superb HTC Manager and Coach Alto Gary for all her help! Also, many thanks to Charles Hampton of the Texans, and more photos of Casey are at this link.