LIFE BEHIND THE POM-POMS

LIFE

BEHIND

THE POM-POMS

Words by Emily Cannon

The spotlight has been fixed on not just the football players during this year’s preseason. Since the new hit Netflix show “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders” premiered the talk of NFL cheerleaders has been at the forefront of the media. This show follows the behind the scenes life of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC). The seven-episode docuseries gives viewers the chance to see into a world most will never know. As many new fans are taking to TikTok to try the cheerleader’s signature dance to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” and trying their best at a jump split, others are looking further into other topics from the show such as pay, mental health and the physical wellbeing of these girls.

While the idea of being a cheerleader for any NFL team seems like a glamorous, exciting life, it also comes with many struggles and issues that most will never understand. These girls are meant to be perfect at all times with full hair and makeup and body standards that almost seem impossible to the normal person, but their one goal is to please others and make others feel good.This new show was able to give an insight to fans on the other side of this idea and develop a conversation about these issues.

One of the cheerleaders shown on the show was not able to fully say the pay of a DCC but related it to being a “full time employee at Chick-Fil-a.” While a football player for the same team is making millions of dollars a year. According to a 2017 report by ESPN, the average pay for a cheerleader is $150 dollars per game with additional pay for appearances, practice and other events which on average is around $22,000 dollars a year. (The DCC are said to make $500 per game.) Many of the cheerleaders mention that they do not do this for the money but to fulfill a dream they have been training for their entire life.

The mental health aspect is a side that needs to be addressed. With trying to keep the high standards of the team while being committed to working a full time job and the extra parts of being a cheerleader they do not get much time to breathe. Trying to always be perfect and not let any emotion show can take a toll on their mental health. The picture perfect ideas and expectations of cheerleaders make hopefuls think that their lives would be perfect if they were one of them. When candidates get into training camp, it flips to a new perspective from the normal eye. Being told how to look, how to eat and basically being told that you have to be a certain way to make the team can affect someone’s mental health.

Former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Victoria Kalina, opened up on the show about her mental health about struggling with depression during her four seasons with the Cowboys and even took a break in between her seasons to get the help she needed. She now shares about it on her Instagram account in a series she started called “Mental Health Mondays” to help others that may be struggling.

Physical wear and tear on the cheerleaders bodies is also a concern. I mean, it isn’t in everyday life that you jump into a split over and over. Many of the cheerleaders face injuries each season and the wear and tear on their bodies is an issue that needs to be looked into further. Not to mention the eating habits and disorders this line of work can lead to with the crazy schedules they have and the uniform standards that exist. The classic uniform of the Cowboys Cheerleaders does not hide much of one’s body and that can cause some to take drastic measures to feel good in the uniform. Most cheerleaders only do a few years because of the body issues it can cause. Former DCC Caroline Sundvold shared on the show about her surgeries to her hip and foot after she retired while showing her accepting the Veteran of the Year award on crutches and another dancer stating that she lives with hip pain each day from the high kicks and jump splits.

The glamorous lives of NFL cheerleaders may seem as if they are living the dream and that their world is perfect but is the reward worth the work they are putting in. Young girls dream of pom-poms and stepping on the field as a cheerleader causes them to work their entire lives for a shot at it. From growing up in the dance studio and years of prep classes to experience what it may be like one day. The idea of this perfect world to some can be a nightmare to others that are actually in it.