sleepyjean

Lisa is there because people like her. Not you, obviously, 😆 but she has fans. I don't know much about her, but I think she is pretty, she's in amazing shape, she dances well, and has presence on the field. Not every DCC is meant to be glamorous. Part of the DCC mystique is to include "a girl for every fan." That means glamour girls, yes, but also includes the athletic girl, the girl next door, the leggy beauty, the bubbly outgoing type, the petite dynamo, and so on. You're going to have Lexie, but you're also going to have Maddie, and both have plenty of fans. I don't pay attention to anonymous comments like "so-and-so is a kiss up" or "nobody likes so-and-so" because when it comes to things like that, the source is just as important as the story they are telling, and when I have no clue as the credibility of the source, I don't care that much what they are saying, even if the source is an insider. Insiders share verifiable facts, but they also share their opinions, and those two things aren't always the same. We have definitely had some insiders in the past who had an axe to grind with certain cheerleaders and made no bones about it. Just because you know who got cut in advance, doesn't necessarily make you The Unbiased Source of Truth on all topics. I take everything I read here with a shovelful of salt.

Agreed. It won't be an easy time, but any means. But to be honest, the ones who will notice it (and care) are the DCC staff and the group here. I think it's ok to not have favorites. I know I'm probably alone in this, but whenever there were certain cheerleaders out front as the favorites, there seemed to be just as many people who were sick of them, as people who supported.😄

Kelli has been doing this job for 30 years. During that time, hundreds of cheerleaders have come and gone. At this point, I'm sure she's seen this scenario repeat itself several times over. Which isn't to say some periods aren't more difficult than others, and some squads greener than others, but they bring in a ton of talent and they rehearse them all summer and continue to rehearse them almost daily through the season. I don't think there is any danger of the wheels falling completely off the cart. There has been a lot of criticism of Kelli in this forum, but regardless of whether you* agree with her methods, it is clear that her #1 priority is THE BUSINESS, and she is always going to make sure the business survives. The entire team could quit, and they'd adapt and keep it pushing, just like they did last year. *ETA: @StellaCL, I don't mean you, specifically, just meant the forum collectively.

Karissa 2012 Karissa today. It looks like she's done well for herself.

I believe she falls into the category of "glamour modeling," which includes lingerie, swimwear, maybe partial nudity, etc.

I have a vague recollection of Jenna and maybe some others changing some of the Thunder choreo during their time on the team. I could be thinking of something else though. In the past discussion on this same topic, someone posted that the Cowboys and the DCC were all about tradition and Thunder is part of that tradition, so don't expect it to change. I think that probably plays a large role in it. As always, whenever this topic comes up, I find myself wondering about Judy. Someone once pointed out that her role is more like Artistic Director than choreographer, and that makes more sense to me. From what I understand, she sets the formations, stages the larger performances, and does a lot of creative around the swim calendar. I'm sure there are other things as well. I don't think Judy creates or teaches dances anymore, and hasn't for ages. It makes me wonder who the actual team choreographer is in reality. I think they say they have 50 new dances every year. Who creates those? We know they bring in outside choreographers, but they aren't paying outsiders to create 50 dances. The DCC also always seem to have one or two assistant choreographers (recently retired DCC) on staff. Maybe they're doing most of it? Them and the group leaders? Or maybe they're getting alumni like Sarah and Jenn and we just don't hear about it? Very curious about how this works.

Just under 60% of cheerleaders were on the team 1 year (27.3%) or 2 years (24.5%). Of the 1-year girls, 54% left because they were cut, not because they wanted to leave. I think there is some disillusionment, for sure. But the main thing is that this job requires so much of the DCC, there is only so long most people can afford do that. It takes a lot to become a 5 year DCC, but I imagine most people can't (or don't want to) defer progress in other areas of their lives for such a long period of time. One or two years during college or fresh out of high school? Sure. But any more than that and my parents would've been like "LOL, no. Time to get a real job, or focus on preparing for grad school."

Jaycie Seta, who was chosen for training camp last year and deferred until this year, then chose not to return, is a finalist for the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders. Someone previously mentioned that she has a serious boyfriend now that she didn't have at the time of DCC auditions, so I guess that's the end of Texas for her. She's in the front row, third from the left, white top, red shorts.

Victoria is 21. She'll be 22 in four months.

My thoughts on the vaccine-related exits, spoilered for those who are annoyed by long-winded responses. TL;DR: Everyone should have expected this and if some DCC step away because they don't want to get Pfizered, they should be allowed to do so without being targeted.

I believe these inside sources will tell names if/when they can. Just a friendly reminder that we have had other sources in the past leave this forum entirely due to unrelenting pleas for more and more and more information. Others left (I believe) when they responded to those requests and gave up enough info to out themselves to those who are trying keep the info under wraps. Then we never saw them again. While I do think some sources in the past have enjoyed keeping people in suspense, I imagine most times people are sharing what they can, and are putting themselves in a rather precarious position by coming here at all. Patience is a difficult, but necessary thing.

It's hard to tell, she's too small. It could be Mandy or the other blonde instructor. Or even someone else who used to work there.

I'm really surprised no one has brought up devonanddarian (IG). The company just launched last month. Brown and beige athleisurewear with tonal embroidered slogans. Did I miss the discussion?

I don't know much about this but I suspect the US is too big to have a national business registry. On the suspicion that this is governed at the state level, I did a search on the website for the Secretary of State for the state of Washington. It appears she is no longer involved. This site and this site have older records that do include Mandy, but I believe the Secretary of State is the system of record, since they are the authority where business licenses are applied for and registered. I don't see any pics of Mandy, though I didn't look very hard. However, they have updated the landing page.

ecpomcats 💛🐾 We’re excited to introduce our 2 new POMcats coaches for 2021-2022, ECHS alumnae, Mia Nelson & Megan McElaney! 🐾💛While we welcome these 2 amazing dancers, we also want to acknowledge and thank Coach Hannah for the time and energy she put into the team the last 3 years. We are forever grateful! 🥰 Here’s a little bit about 1 of our new coaches: Megan McElaney began her dancing career at the age of 3 years old and progressed to become a competitive dancer at 8 years old. She has trained and competed in all styles such as ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre, contemporary, lyrical and hip hop. She was a member of El Camino's Dance III program and ECDC all 4 years and she was a leader for 2 years. In her senior year she joined the POMcats team where they placed 3rd in the nation at USA Nationals, making history for El Camino! Upon graduating high school, she earned a spot, and now serves as captain on the nationally ranked San Diego State University Dance Team, which claimed the National Championship title at UDA Nationals in 2020. On top of her dancing career, she also spent her summers traveling across the nation as a Universal Dance Association Instructor, coaching high school dancers, judging auditions, and assisting with competitions. She cannot wait to work with the team she was once a part of & take them to new heights! ⭐️ Let’s go POMcats! ⭐️

Most of what I know about her is in her CMT bio... "Trammell brought to the cheerleaders 16 years of dance experience with most dedicated training in the areas of jazz, tap, drill team, and pompom. Also of great significance is the expertise she gained as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader for four years, three of which she acted as show group member and group leader." ...and in this article Judy Trammell’s Accidental Journey to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

That's quite the reach, my friend.😄

The rumors about Sydney are just gross. If it is true, it speaks to her character, but it's none of my business. If it isn't true, then what's being done to her is truly disgusting. But let me get this straight, we're supposed to believe: 1. Her strategy for catching this man was to follow him to Dallas and then audition for a training process and a job that would give her no time to see him. "Hey girl, I snuck out. Wanna meet up?" "Babe...you know I have rehearsal five nights a week and sometimes on Saturday." 2. A job that is attached to a tv show that would shine a spotlight on her and draw attention to her personal business. 3. A job that - were she caught - would very likely televise it when Kelli gives her the boot. We're also supposed to believe: 4. Kelli didn't know about this. Shelly didn't tell her. Alumni didn't tell her. Nothing came up when her AFC references were checked. 5. Or Kelli DID know about this, and put her on the team anyway. Because Sydney is that amazing. "Hey you haven't snagged him yet, so it's not fraternization, amiright? wink wink." Make it make sense. People are really out here on reddit or wherever, talking about this woman like they are spitting facts when I bet they don't know any of people involved. And other people listening to it like "Well, I never liked her" as if there is any evidence for this, and then going on to repeat it on IG or Facebook. Note: this post is not to be construed as an attack on this forum or anyone on it, but the internet really is cancer.

Ok HOLD. UP. Are you telling me y'all refer to those as the "dancing girl" pics? I am so tickled by this, and I don't know why. Like, I'm going to have work this in whenever someone takes my picture. "Hold on, lemme do my dancing girl pose. Boom." On another note, I wasn't actually looking at your profile on LinkedIn. I was looking at someone else....George...um...Glass! Yes, that was his name. He goes to another school. No but really, I was looking at someone who must be connected to you in some way and the graphic popped up as an association with you. And I'm not trying to get somebody in trouble, so that's all I'm going to say about that. You ain't heard it from me. 🤐 And finally, back to Gina. Left is the pic on the website. Right is the one she posted on IG when everyone else's cameos dancing girls 😆 were revealed last year. I'm guessing it's the one she liked best from last year's shoot. And now I am really and truly letting go of it. As always, much appreciation for the inside scoop!

Kelsi was one of the young ones who joined the team at age 18 and remained on the squad for 4 years. Some time after retirement, she published a blog where she reflected on her time on the team. She talked about her faith a lot. She is a devout Christian, and spent those five DCC years reading her Bible before every game, leading Bible study on USO tours, and praying before every performance. She pretended like the "sexy" aspect of the DCC wasn't a thing. Or wasn't a thing that applied to her in particular. She told herself that she was just sharing her talent and her love of dance to raise people's spirits, to spread happiness. She prayed that none of the football fans were looking at her with lust in their hearts. I wish I had saved it. Maybe one of the OGs here did. It wasn't dramatic. She didn't denounce the team or anything like that. She mentioned a few things like being on weight watch all the time, and being told to keep her bible verses to herself. (IIRC she used to put Bible verses when she signed autographs, but don't quote me on that.) Looking back, she seemed to come to the understanding that the DCC experience was in conflict with her personal and religious values. She realized that she wanted to live a more faith-centered life and the time she was a DCC she put a lot of focus on the wrong things. She didn't seem ashamed of it, and I don't think she hides it, she was just SO not about that anymore. It was another time, another life, another planet. (I think she wrote this 2-3 years after retirement.) I think she is still friendly with some of of her teammates, but to my knowledge she has never returned to Dallas to participate in any of the alumni events.

The DCC have long been behind the curve when it comes to their online presence. They have stepped up a bit in recent years with things like DCC in motion, but yes they could be doing more. I hope the re-launch of the website portends good things. I just did some digging around on the wayback machine and it reminded me that they did use to make more of the kind of content you're talking about. Warm. Humanizing. Approachable. Who's Who Ally breaks down interesting factoids about the ladies on the team Who's Who 2 More of the same Game 6 Ally Traylor game day rundown Thanksgiving Tidbits Nicole writes about the big Thanksgiving game A New Look That time Sydney Durso was a brunette for 5 minutes Celebrating the Year Nicole reports on end of year banquet Weekend Getaway Nicole's girl trip Twas the Night Before Tryouts Why Schram? Why? Mailbag 11/15/2012 Ma'am? Dancing With Our Stars Kelli writes about Melissa Rycroft What I Love About Lindale Kelli F. talks about her small town roots Farewell from Kelsi Betrays none of the inner conflict she later wrote about before essentially turning her back on the whole experience Yay for May Courtney Cook writes about her audition experiences Having the cheerleaders write articles was a great idea. But it depended heavily on having DCC who write well and who have the time and inclination. This wouldn't work in today's snapchat world. People don't read long format anymore. But they could produce short videos or IG posts with this same kind of content

I don't agree. It is bad for the DCC fandom, particularly superfans who want to know everything about everything. But bad for the show? The facts don't seem to support that assumption. DCC auditions used to get a lot of coverage in mass media and social media. Coverage has tightened up more and more every year to the near complete blackout we have now. Meanwhile, the ratings have gone up and up. I don't know what the ratings were last year (season 15), but according to CMT, season 14 was the "highest-rated season in franchise history." This article says season 14 ratings were up 23%, and it seems unlikely (to me) that there was a big ratings drop last year while everyone was stuck at home in lock down.

Hi @ShellyB I'm sorry but I can't reveal my sources. Mwahahahahahaha..... Just kidding. It's on LinkedIn. Regarding Gina, I asked because the uniform photo currently on the website is the same photo that was posted for the 2019 squad. All of the other veterans had new photos for 2020, so I wondered if Gina was either unable to attend the shoot or her photos didn't turn out last year.

She wasn't on the team very long. Based on her Instagram, her boyfriend proposed 9/1/2017 in Massachusetts. That is followed by a photo of her with her DCC teammates pointing at her diamond ring, so she went back to Dallas after that. From what I can tell, it looks like she performed at the home game on 9/10, but left before the next home game on 10/1. Nobody knows for sure why she left, though there were many rumors: 1. Missed her fiance 2. Gravely sick relative (grandmother?) 3. Was treated poorly by the some of her DCC teammates 4. Only tried out for DCC to see if she could make it and never intended to complete the season. 5. Tried out for DCC because her prior team (Patriots) had a 5 year cap at the time and she wasn't ready to end her NFL cheer career, but after spending the entire summer in Dallas for training camp, found she was too homesick to stay in Dallas for an entire year. I doubt we'll ever know the truth, but it must've been something pretty major to drive someone who put that much blood, sweat, and tears into reaching a goal, to give it up just when it started to pay off. (Having said that, it's hard not to go with #1 due the number of photos she posted of herself gazing adoringly at her man. On its face, it sure looks like he proposed and she immediately packed her bags and peaced-out of DFW.) And now that I have clogged up this thread with my ramblings, I'll see myself out.

For the sake of completeness, here are the charts to back up the numbers above - corrected again for Alex, Alyssa and Courtni (and Chelsea K who I believe now is a confirmed cut). For those who have zero interest in any of this, I appreciate your patience. CORRECTED (v 3.0)