This year’s squad has been announced. Click here to learn more about the ladies on the team.
By Travis Simpson
Courier News
August 24 2014
When Ashley Prochazka grew up cheering for the Russellville Cyclones cheer and dance team, she had no idea she would one day take the field as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.
Prochazka won the spot earlier this summer in a competition against 500 ladies from 36 states and four countries.
But it began on the sidelines at Cyclone football games and under the goal at basketball games.
“In a way, being on the cheer squads, it taught me how to be an ambassador,” she said. “People look at you a lot more than someone who is in the stands. You have to represent your program well. Your school is your brand.”
Prochazka has been involved in competitive cheer since fourth grade and has garnered just about every accolade available for active athletes in the sport. She won a national and world championship in 2009 with a traveling cheer squad from Dallas, Texas and cheered four years for the Baylor University Bears where she earned a bachelor’s degree in health sciences pre-physical therapy.
Still — she never quite dreamed it would go this far. She became interested in the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders in high school when a former teammate tried out and failed to make the team.
“I guess that’s when the idea first came in my head,” she said. “The Cowboys were the only football team I ever paid attention to, so it put that thought in my mind.”
Prochazka first tried out in 2013 but didn’t make the team. In her words, the try-out process was more than she expected. When she returned a year later to try again, she was ready.
“I think it made me grow a lot,” she said. “It was my first time to not achieve something in cheer that I had gone after. It was very humbling. I think it was God letting me know that not everything is handed to you. I’ve always worked hard, but I learned that for some things you have to work extra hard.”
Prochazka’s rise through the ranks was documented for season eight of Country Music Television’s (CMT) “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team,” a reality show which documents the difficulties involved in being selected for America’s most well-known cheer squad.
The show, which first premiered in 2006, shows the progression each candidate must follow in order to make the final roster and take the field on opening day at Cowboys Stadium. First comes an open audition “cattle call,” then personal interviews, uniform fittings, BMI testing, physical fitness testing, etiquette training, mock media interviews and calender shoots.
The girls are even tested on knowledge of the Dallas Cowboys history, the NFL in general, the rules of the game, general history and current events. That was something Prochazka hadn’t expected on her first go-round, but came well-studied for round two.
“This year, I studied a lot,” she said. “Last year I didn’t know what to expect, but this year we made study guides. I’ve been out of college for a year now, but I was studying like I would have for a test. We [other applicants] would quiz each other, ask questions. Ultimately, we’re out there representing the organization. We aren’t just cheer and dance. We have to be able to hold a conversation, so they have to test us like that.”
Participants undergo dance choreography tests and are hand-picked by a panel of experts. Scoring is based on physical appearance, fitness, dance style, poise, grace, intelligence and showmanship.
From there, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleading camp opens and the ladies undergo more tests. A woman can be cut at any time. Of the 500 who tried out, only 47 were brought to camp and only 39 survived to officially make the squad.
“Every night could be cut night,” Prochazka said. “You could be let go. You have to learn over 30 routines in a month-and-a-half period just to perform in front of the judges each night.”
Common reasons to be cut include failure to correctly perform dance routines, failure to display an elite level of skill and a lack of physical fitness or meet the body fat requirements.
“Every year is not guaranteed. You have to try out again each year,” Prochazka said. “The veterans don’t join until finals, so they do get an advantage, but they still aren’t guaranteed a spot on the team every year.”
Prochazka said she believes she is exactly where she is meant to be. Her faith is important to her. There’s a time to every season, she reminds herself, including a time to dance.
“No matter how great a dancer you are, sometimes it might turn out that this isn’t where you are supposed to be and that’s hard,” she explained. “I think that’s one of the hardest things for people to take in — when their plans don’t match what God wants.
“I have been blessed by making the teams I have tried out for. God has given me the talent to be on some of the best cheer teams in the nation and the world. When I didn’t make it last year, it was hard for me to accept that.”
But she didn’t give up. According to Prochazka, God had put the desire in her heart for a reason.
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team airs at 8 p.m. Fridays on CMT.
Kent Reporter
Aug 22, 2014
Lauren Baumann and Elizabeth Buslon have been named co-captains of the Seattle Impact FC’s dance team, Ladies with Impact.
Both bring plenty of dancing and choreography experience to the Impact, the newest member of the 23-team Major Arena Soccer League.
The Impact kick off their inaugural pro indoor season at home at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8 against the San Diego Sockers. The Impact will play all 10 home games at the ShoWare Center.
“We both have the experience, drive and dedication to build a professional team for the Impact,” Baumann said. “Elizabeth will be a great team leader, and I look forward to working with her.”
Raised in Seattle, Baumann is a graduate of Gonzaga University, where she obtained her degree in business administration and marketing. She spent several seasons as a dancer for the Arena Football League’s Spokane Shock Dance Team and the National Lacrosse League’s Washington Stealth Bombshells Dance Team.
Baumann also was the dance team coach for Seattle University and Gonzaga.
Buslon grew up in Kent, where she performed for her high school dance team. She was an instructor for the Thunderbird Dance Camp in Portland, Ore., dancer and choreographer for the Bombshells and a finalist for the NBA Portland Trail Blazers Dancers.
Buslon attends Bellevue College, where she is studying to become a registered nurse.
“Both being coaches of grade school dance teams, we have always collaborated with each other about techniques of coaching and how to help girls reach their full potential in the dance community,” Buslon said. “Working alongside of Lauren will be a great opportunity to learn from each other as well as grow as dancers ourselves.”
Open player tryouts and dance team auditions are Sept. 6-7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, at the ShoWare Center. Preregistration is required.
Baumann and Buslon will be looking for dancers with strong showmanship, personality, and positive energy.
“Dancers should be in top physical condition and take pride in their appearance,” Baumann said.
The Eagles website has been updated with individual profiles for this year’s cheerleaders. Click here to learn more about the ladies on the team!
Click here for photos from preseason, week 1!
Joanna Michaud
The Reflector
August 13, 2014
Although 22-year-old Haley Kerle is now quite experienced and talented when it comes to dancing, the 2010 Battle Ground High School graduate said she began her dance career only a few years earlier at the age of 19.
This past May, Kerle achieved her dream of becoming an NFL cheerleader when she was chosen to be a member of the Sea Gals, the cheerleading squad for the Seattle Seahawks.
“The interesting fact about my achievement is that I have not been dancing since I was little,” Kerle said. “I began my dance career when I was only 19 years old. I will be 23 years old on Aug. 22. It has taken me four years to achieve a dream of a lifetime.”
A Battle Ground girl, born and raised, Kerle said her dance career started when she auditioned for the Vancouver Volcanoes with the International Basketball League. She danced semi-professionally for them as a Volcanoes’ dancer for three years, and then eventually moved on and auditioned for the Portland Rosebuds Dance Team, the professional dancers who dance on the ice for the Portland Winterhawks.
“After an amazing season and four years of dance experience, I decided to be brave and drive to Seattle for what resulted in the most rewarding experience for me,” Kerle said.
The Sea Gal auditions were a two-week process, and Kerle said she traveled to the Seahawks practice facility in Seattle and made it through all the preliminary rounds.
“There were almost 300 beautiful, talented dancers around me and I kept thinking, ‘be brave, you can do this. Just do your best and hope they notice you,’” she said.
Kerle said the final round of auditions consisted of an interview, a performance routine and a 16-count freestyle, all broadcasted live. She said she remembers having a panic attack the night before because she wanted to make the squad so bad.
“Right before they announced the team, I was standing there, knees shaking with my head down, and then the head coach called out my number,” Kerle said. “My number. The funny fact was that when she did call my number, I did not budge. I thought I was hearing things. I remember thinking to myself, ‘there’s no way she just called my number, can this be true?’ Then I could feel all of the girls staring at me like, ‘hello, that’s your number, girl.’”
Kerle said her dance career means the world to her, especially since it did not come easy for her. She said she worked hard to teach herself technique and learn the style it takes to be on these different professional teams. Kerle said what she enjoys most about being a dancer is performing in front of an audience, and that’s what she’s most excited for being a Sea Gal.
The first preseason game for the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field is Fri., Aug. 15, and Kerle said she can’t wait to be in uniform, on the field, sharing her love and excitement for dance and the Seahawks.
“Cheering for this team is really hard work,” she said. “It takes a lot of discipline and passion to be a Sea Gal. I am so dedicated. I go to the gym twice a day, six days a week, on top of practice two nights a week for four hours each. I push myself every day. I want to be the best cheerleader I can be and make my coach, my fellow dancers, friends, family and students back at home proud.”
Kerle brings up her students because she was actually about to start her fourth year coaching the dance team at Battle Ground High School.
“I know the students understand why I had to leave and I truly hope that my achievement continues to inspire them and that I left with teaching/showing them where hard work and dedication leads you,” Kerle said. “I want them to know that they can achieve their dreams, dance or other.”
Moving from Battle Ground to Seattle was not easy for Kerle, as she said she is very close to her family. She said she has an amazing, loving and supportive family, and that her parents have done so much to her.
“My dad has helped me with this move and been there for me 100 percent, and my mom too, she is my biggest fan and has went to every game the last four years and I know I will look up in the stands and see her at every game this season, too,” she said.
In addition to being a Sea Gal, Kerle also has a full-time job as assistant director of operations for Keller Williams Realty in Seattle. She also enjoys going to the lake on weekends and boating, swimming, wave-running and hiking.
“I might be in a big city now, but I’m still a country girl at heart and I’m going to enjoy the outdoors as much as I can up here,” she said.
The Dallas Cowboys hip hop squad, the Rhythm & Blue Dancers went co-ed this year. Well, technically, they were co-ed before. I think. I know they had B Boys. I think maybe they decided to integrate the B Boys and the female dancers into a single unit. That’s a guess. I don’t know much about this team, so I’m 100% clear on what exactly has changed. In any case, new team, new idea, and a new look for 2014. The guys are dressed very similarly to the B Boys of yesteryear, and the girls have ditched their silver onesies and cowboy boots for a more athletic looking costume that coordinates a little better with the guys. So here ’tis, whattaya think?
Sadly, the first thing that came into my head was my mother’s voice. How on earth are they going to keep those pants clean???
The official team photo hasn’t been posted on the DCC website yet, but rookie DCC Courtney shared a photo of it on twitter. And why the heck not, here are this year’s rookie headshots. Click both to view full size.
NFL Preseason is here! Click here to check out Sports Illustrated’s first NFL cheerleader gallery of the season.
Back to school with the HTC!
