The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' signature leap splits instrumentality their toll, according to alum Caroline Sundvold, who appeared successful the Netflix docuseries American Sweethearts with her younger sister and DCC hopeful Anna Kate Sundvold.

A doc told Caroline she needed country pursuing 4 seasons of jump-splitting her joints into a permanently injured state, arsenic she shared connected the show, "but a hep country similar that is simply a bully 3 to six months recovery. I was like, ‘I truly privation to bash 1 much twelvemonth of cheerleading.’ I conscionable wanted to propulsion through."

She yet had the cognition aft her 5th season, Caroline noting that the sacrifice was wholly worthy it. But the ft country she underwent adjacent was amazingly much traumatic.

"You would deliberation hep country would beryllium a small worse," Caroline said. "But the ft has truthful galore nerves successful it. So from the [end-of-season] banquet until present I’ve conscionable been recovering a lot, which has been a spot of a wake-up call."

America's Sweetheart standout Madeline Salter, who volition beryllium returning for the 2024 NFL season, has documented much attraction sessions connected her Instagram than most, including visits to Kinetic Centre, a spine and sports rehab clinic, to vanquish tension headaches and get her feet taped.

Her chiropractic sports practitioner Dr. Kristina Myles noted successful a post showing Salter getting worked on, "our absorption is chiefly correcting facial layers that tin origin pain, stiffness, oregon nonaccomplishment of scope of question erstwhile injured oregon overworked."

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are ever acceptable for immoderate football, but the gig of a beingness is besides not the main lawsuit arsenic acold arsenic income goes.

ESPN reported successful 2017 that NFL squad cheerleaders made astir $75 to $150 per game, an eye-opening infinitesimal for fans who assumed those glamorous performers were making bank. Or astatine slightest a surviving wage.

As seen successful America's Sweethearts, present erstwhile DCC Kelcey Wetterberg is a pediatric registered nurse, portion then-newcomer Reece Allman (née Weaver), who'll beryllium backmost for the 2024 season, works astatine a Dallas florist to supplement her net from cheerleading.

According to the Dallas Morning News, cheerleader wage has since risen to person to $400 per game, positive hourly wages for each the clip spent preparing for games and making appearances.

Still, DCC alum Kat Puryear said connected the Netflix show, "I would accidental I'm making, like, a substitute teacher [salary]...I would accidental I'm making, like, Chick-fil-A idiosyncratic that works full-time" money.

Megan McElaney, returning for a 4th play successful 2024, gave a video-montage glimpse of her emblematic day arsenic "an NFL cheerleader with three jobs," starting with her 6:15 a.m. wakeup call.

In summation to her full-time occupation arsenic a marketing/recruiting coordinator astatine Bluecrest Financial Alliances, per LinkedIn, she has added constitution creator for The Styling Stewardess to her resume—and erstwhile each that enactment is done, it's disconnected to AT&T Stadium for evening practice, which ends astatine 11 p.m.

Maintaining highest fittingness is portion of the gig, but customized uniforms tailored for each cheerleader's signifier person helped the enactment determination past a much body-image-obsessed era.

"Trying to marque that azygous acceptable and and person the astir beauteous lines, we don't speech astir weight," DCC manager since 1991 Kelli Finglass told E! News. "The girls are each precise bully with their ain nutrition, their ain idiosyncratic workouts. We person a gym adjacent to our creation studio," positive nutritionists and intelligence wellness experts disposable for consultation.

The women are escaped to absorption connected their ain idiosyncratic regimens, "and we effort to supply resources and amended them," Finglass said. "We permission it astatine that. And I deliberation we're amended for that."

The DCC audition FAQ conception connected their website advises, "You should look well-proportioned successful dancewear. We DO NOT person circumstantial tallness and value requirements."

As the World Turns

While the instauration has surely evolved implicit the years (the star-spangled uniforms didn't adjacent marque their debut until 1972), the DCC enactment isn't each that antithetic from erstwhile it began.

"I deliberation everything around the cheerleaders has changed," Finglass told the New York Times. "And they’re adapting to galore things similar societal media and visibility. But astatine the core, they are world-class dancers, and a large portion of what they bash requires a servant’s heart. That has been the lawsuit passim our full history."

Another assets astatine the ready: an etiquette coach.

"They spell to dinners with high-ranking subject officials," Finglass explained to the Times, "so they are enactment successful situations that they whitethorn not person been exposed to yet arsenic an 18- oregon 19-year-old from a tiny town." 

And since radical get truthful excited to spot the DCC each astir the world, she continued, "I emotion them learning each the antithetic facets and being polished and poised and prepared. All I’m trying to bash is springiness them each instrumentality possible, truthful they tin beryllium confident."

While they're escaped to question retired assistance, and they person dedicated constitution artists for photograph shoots, the ladies are liable for doing their ain hairsbreadth and constitution earlier games. (Sophy Laufer, connected the squad since 2022, has done a full tutorial connected however she gets her glamorous crippled time glow connected TikTok.)

Among the aesthetic rules: No reddish lips and nary reddish nails. Plus, hairsbreadth indispensable ever beryllium worn down, and Dallas' Tangerine Salon has been keeping the ladies' locks bouncy for years.

Also, if you person a tattoo, fine—but it has to beryllium wholly masked with constitution and bronzer for games.

The DCC are besides pillars of their community, which choreographer Judy Trammell was blessed to spot reflected successful America's Sweethearts.

She lamented that their longrunning CMT world amusement Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, which ended successful 2022 aft 16 seasons, "didn’t amusement the things we bash the remainder of the year," Trammell told Entertainment Tonight. "The USO tours, the veterans hospital, the children’s infirmary visits. We bash truthful overmuch much than has ever been seen." 

There's really a squad to join after you permission the team, Finglass told E! News, "a precise progressive and engaging alumni relation that's called The Spirit of DCC."

Because not each that dissimilar getting retired of the military, erstwhile idiosyncratic retires from cheerleading it's admittedly "a big manner alteration to spell from seeing your teammates each nighttime astatine rehearsals to not," the DCC manager explained. "That's wherefore we effort to supplement that immediately with alumni activities. Because it is bittersweet for each of us."

Noting that the ladies spell connected to stock large milestones—such arsenic weddings, and past their kids' weddings—for years aft their cheering days are done, Finglass added, "I consciousness similar a schoolhouse teacher, and erstwhile your students graduate, you're ever excited for the caller freshman class. But of people you person emotions, and you person relationships that you cognize are not going to beryllium seen oregon felt connected a regular basis."