By Michael Florek
Dallas News Cowboys Blog
May 19, 2013
ARLINGTON — How much would you give up for a part time job, one that’s only guaranteed for a year and pays as little as $150 a week? What if that job involved stars and white boots?
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders practice anywhere from two to five times per week during the season. Attendance is mandatory, and there are extra sessions for rookies and the Show Group — a sort of special ops group of 12 cheerleaders who dance and sing — on weekends.
Training camp in the weeks before the season is tougher, with its nightly rehearsals that can last up to five hours and could result in more cuts.
If the cheerleaders make it out of training camp, they’re are paid $150 per home game, with opportunities for paid appearances. Oh, and just because you make it one year doesn’t mean you’re back the next. Everybody has re-audition.
“It’s really common for veterans to get cut,” said Sydney Durso, now in her sixth-year on the team. “I remember when I first made the team five years ago, I think five or six veterans were cut.”
Final auditions concluded on Saturday.
[Photo Gallery: 2013 DCC Finals]
More than girls will take on the burden and head to training camp. Some left their lives in other states or countries for the right to wear the uniform.
Why?
“It’s a worldwide brand,” said Brijet Finister, who made two trips from Stockton, California in order to audition for the first time but didn’t end up making the cut. “The image of the DCC is one that a lot of people desire to be a part of.
“You almost become a hero to thousands of girls across the world.”
Perhaps no one knows more about the opportunities than Durso. The 23-year-old is now the longest tenured Cowboys Cheerleader on the team.
She has been on three USO tours with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, making trips to Japan, South Korea, Kuwait and Bahrain to visit troops.
“I love performing of course, but there’s something about our iconic uniform about that is so different than anybody else’s,” Durso said. “You can make people smile with just our uniform.”
Jinelle Davidson came to Texas from Australia two weeks ago for opening auditions, leaving her job, her studies, her family and her cheerleading team in Australia.
“I literally left everything behind,” Davidson said. “There’s an energy behind cheerleading that I’m really passionate about.”
And the Cowboys were the best, so she wanted to follow in the footsteps of fellow Australian Angela Rena and try out.
It ended in success. Davidson, Rena and Durso heard Kelli Finglass, director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, call their name called after a 12-hour day audition day.
They’ll be training camp at the end of the month, ready for another year being ‘America’s Sweethearts.’
“It is perfect,” Durso said. “I love it. I love what we do.”
That’s all the justification she needs.
Raiders cheerleaders play with power and style
Jenna Clarke
Canberra Times (Australia)
May 20, 2013
The bad boys of the Canberra Raiders like disgraced former star Josh Dugan could learn a thing or two about discipline, hard work and personal branding from the 17 scantily clad women who cheer them on at every home game.
The smiling Raiderettes – the women who spend the majority of a freezing Canberra winter accessorising the aforementioned grins with crop tops and fish nets – put the ”leader” in ”cheerleader”.
While they didn’t pick up the pom poms for the NRL’s official Women in League round when the Raiders lost to the Cronulla Sharks at Sharks Stadium on the weekend, Raiderettes coach Kait, who has been a part of the official squad for six years, says the Raiders community has more girl power than Beyonce.
”All the canteen mums, the physiotherapists, the receptionists at the club are so highly regarded,” Kait said. ”I’ve been involved with the club for around seven years and it’s a great, female-friendly environment. I actually say to the girls at every home game, ‘Not everyone watches what we do but remember to smile as your mum is out there watching’. It’s funny but really nice that all of our mums come to games to cheer us on.”
For Kait, spray tans, hair flicking and thigh slapping is just one, albeit shiny, aspect of her life.
By day, the 23-year-old University of Canberra graduate is climbing the corporate ladder in her classified government job.
Fellow Raiderette ”veteran”, 22-year-old Sam, who has also been with the squad for six years, juggles full-time study – she’s completing a degree in business informatics – with a full-time job as a legal assistant. Cheerleading is her hobby and dancing her passion.
Kait and Sam are the Raiderettes’ version of the friendship between players Sandor Earl and Blake Ferguson, also known as ”#Dorguson”.
Kait and Sam
During rehearsals they laugh, joke and poke fun at each other and finish each other’s sentences. Although they admit they would rather drink Red Bull than green tea – the boys’ drink of choice. They originally decided to try out for the Raiderettes after being encouraged to do so by their childhood dancing teacher.
”All of the girls are so talented and strong – seriously, we are like heavy lifters thanks to all the routines which involve us tossing girls in the air, but we’ve all been dancing or doing gymnastics since we were all really young. Cheerleading is one way we can continue to keep doing what we enjoy,” Sam said.
Each dancer must undertake individual weights training, strengthening and cardio fitness and also attend a four-hour training session each week to learn new routines.
The Canberra Times went along to one of the high-intensity sessions where formations for upcoming home games were discussed and learnt.
Their professionalism filters down to the squad’s fraternisation with the team. ”We do socialise together sometimes but only really after Saturday games, other than that the players do their thing and we do ours,” Kait said.
”Because Canberra is so small and the club has a real community feel about it, the cheerleaders and players are most likely related to each other rather than in relationships with each other.”
In response to the Raiders scandalous start to the year caused by off-the field dramas of Ferguson and Dugan, she said there were strict rules regarding personal conduct which each member of the squad adheres to when joining the Raiderettes.
”It’s not just about being pretty – if you can’t hold a conversation, be charming and engage with the crowd, the fans and the general public then doing this and being a Raiderette isn’t for you,” Kait said.
Hot off the presses! Click here to view full size, courtesy of (Daughter of DCC Director Kelli Finglass).
Click here to see audition photos identifying the members of this year’s squad!
Flames cheerleaders out to bust ‘dumb blonde’ myth
By ANGELA THOMPSON
Illawarra Mercury
May 16, 2013, 10 p.m.
NRL cheerleader Jessica Gallimore loves the roar of the crowd and being on the field when the atmosphere lifts at big games.
Less endearing, though, are the comments. She gets them at every game, shouted from the sidelines or from cars driving past the stadium.
“[Comments] range from ‘you look good’ to things I can’t repeat,” said 23-year-old Miss Gallimore, who has cheered with Wests Tigers and, now, with the St George Illawarra Flames.
“There’s always some young, drunk guy yelling out … things like wanting to take you home and what they would do to you. I wouldn’t say it’s flattering at all to be spoken to like that.
“I’m always really self-conscious about what people there with families are thinking.
“[Those making the comments] wouldn’t objectify their own mother or daughter or sister. Don’t treat us any different to how you treat them.”
Miss Gallimore and fellow Flames member Stephanie Buncombe are part of a push to debunk the “cheerleader myth” on the eve of the NRL’s Women in League round this weekend.
According to Miss Gallimore the myth – which casts cheerleaders as “girls that just dance [with] blonde hair, big boobs” – is outdated, if it were ever true.
She points to the occupations of Flames members and her own academic achievements – a double degree in Dance and PDHPE from the Australian College of Physical Education and, in progress, a bachelor of social science in criminology and criminal justice at the University of Western Sydney – as proof that the stereotype is undeserved.
Sgt. Kevin Frazier (IMCOM)
Army.mil
May 14, 2013
YONGSAN GARRISON, Republic of Korea –The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders brought some of their team spirit from Texas to USAG Yongsan, to boost the morale of the troops during a meet and greet at the R & R Bar and Grill here, May 10.
“I really enjoyed the visit from the cheerleaders,” said Pfc. Lim Hong-seo, from USAG Yongsan Public Affairs Office. “This was my first time experiencing something like this and it was great to feel the appreciation from them.”
The cheerleaders brought a taste of their hometown spirit to Korea, and a familiar face to the Yongsan community.
“I have the best memories of being here in Korea,” said Jenna Lene Jackson, a current Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. “This is where I met the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders during a USO tour, and it’s always an honor to come here to give back to my community.”
Jackson attended Seoul American High during her Junior and Senior year while her father was stationed here in the army. Her fellow cheerleaders visiting Yongsan were Brittany Schram, Mia Greenhouse, Jacqueline Bob, Syndey Durso and Lauren Williams.
“Don’t give up on your dream, keep pushing forward and never let outside influences bring you down no matter how tough the road is to get there,” Jackson said.
“This is definitely a good thing that they do for the troops,” said Maj. Aaron Basham, from Special Operations Command Korea (SOCKOR). “It boosts morale and lets the Soldiers know they are appreciated for all their hard work.”
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders thanked everyone for coming out and also thanked American Airlines for providing them with transportation to make the trip possible.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have narrowed the field of finalists down to the ten who had the most votes. One of those ten women will get to bypass the final audition and go straight to Training Camp. Click here to vote for your choice.
Breelan, Courtni, Hannah, Jamie, and Kathryn
Lauren, Lexie, Natalie, Paige, and Vivian
Check out photo gallery here
Contributed Photo. Cassandra Liska, 27, graduated from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in marketing and danced on the Corpus Christi Hammerheads cheer squad, “Lady Hammerheads.”
Caller.com
May 14, 2013
A Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi graduate and former Hammerheads cheerleader has made it to the top 54 finalists during the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders tryouts for the 2013 squad.
Cassandra Liska, 27, graduated from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in marketing and danced on the Corpus Christi Hammerheads cheer squad, “Lady Hammerheads.”
Liska tried out for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader squad in 2010 and also made it to the top finalist round. She appeared on CMT’s season 5, “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.”
She said being a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader has been a dream of hers for as long as she can remember.
“It’s something you don’t do for the money,” Liska said. “You do it because you love performing and entertaining.”
More than 500 girls from all states and even other countries tried out during the preliminary round on May 4. About 150 auditioners made it to the semifinals round on May 5, where the top 54 rookies were announced.
Liska and the other 53 rookie auditioners will do their final interview rounds Friday and find out if they will be going to training camp Saturday.
“The hardest thing during this whole process is not comparing yourself or letting yourself be intimated by all the other beautiful and talented girls,” Liska said. “And the fact that it is all televised adds a little bit of pressure as well.”
Liska moved to Austin in 2008 when she got a job at the Internet marketing company Reach Local. She married this past summer to Trey Pazderny who met during her freshman year at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
She said her husband has been super supportive through this entire process and has been driving her to the auditions and helping her with football trivia.
This is the first year that fans can vote online for their favorite rookie trying out for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad.
Even if Liska makes it to training camp, which lasts all summer, no one is guaranteed a spot on the squad until the official first game day.
“It’s a long process,” Liska said. “I can potentially relocate my entire life and not even make the squad.”
Despite the difficult and unsure process, she said it’s all worth it.
“I have a contagious personality and want to be able to share it with the Cowboys fans and get people at the games excited,” Liska said.
The rookie who receives the most votes will get a guaranteed invitation to training camp.
Voting is open online at DallasCowboys.com/dccvote until May 17 and will be limited to one vote per email address.
View Cassandra’s profile and try out dance video here.
The auditions for the Dallas Cowboys 2013 cheer squad will be documented in the CMT show, “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team” and season 8 will air this fall.
Fans can vote for Cassandra here.
Cincinnatti.com
May 10, 2013
[Photos of the preliminary rounds of this year’s auditions]
Every spring, the Ben-Gals seek out women trained in dance (all styles) willing to spend the summer learning routines, rehearse throughout the week in fall and winter, plus work Sunday afternoon home games.
On Saturday, their final roster will be determined.
The Ben-Gals will hold a public, final round of cheerleading tryouts Saturday at the Newport Syndicate. Doors at 7:15 p.m., with the competition starting at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $30 in advance through www.cincyticket.com. It’s open to all ages. More information can be found at: bengals.com/cheerleaders/auditions.html
Check out this video from last year’s finals:
