THIS CITY’S GOT SPIRIT Evolution of the Saints Cheer Krewe

By Kimmie Tubre

While the city and surrounding areas love supporting their favorite team, the Saints get the most support from their amazing cheer team, the Saints Cheer Krewe. Previously known as the Saintsations, the team revamped their crew and their name in 2021. The goal was to become more inclusive, incorporating all genders while also merging all of the athletic aspects of a cheer team–from tumbling, to stunts, to dance.

In April 2023, as they do every year, the Cheer team opened for auditions for the new football season. Entering their third year as the Saints Cheer Krewe, the crew has amplified the game experience, becoming the ultimate entertainment team. Representing a diversity of members, the candidates were challenged with new stunts, new cheers, and new demands. While there are many new things about this cheer crew, having a dance or cheer team perform along the sidelines during Saints games is nothing new.

Where It All Began

As long as there has been the Saints, there have been Saints dancers and cheerleaders. That's right, the first auditions were held in 1967 where hundreds of women competed for a spot amongst the 60 dance team members being picked at the time. Once those ladies were selected, they went on to begin rehearsing in the summer of 1967 and were an active part of the Saints first year as an NFL football team. At that time, the dance team was named the Lousiannes, but then they became the Mademoiselles one year later. During those early years there were two separate groups of performers: the Saints cheerleaders and the dancers.

While the recent name change took many by surprise, it is actually a common event throughout the cheer teams’ history. Over the years, the team went through a number of name changes and changes in general. First they simplified their name to the Mam'selles, mostly due to the ease of the spelling. Then they became the Bonnes Amies, meaning "good friends" in French. For a brief period, the dance team was called the Angels. And during other times, they were simply referred to as the Saints Dancers or Danceteam.