A list of rules have been in place for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders since the 1970s — here are some of the ones they still abide by today

 

There are many rules to follow if you want to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

“America’s Sweethearts” have had strict rules since as early as 1972. Originally enforced by choreographer Texie Waterman, who once told a reporter that Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) looked for “an all-American, sexy girl,” they later became the domain of director Suzanne Mitchell, who added more rules during her tenure with the Cowboys from 1976 to 1989.

Early on, cheerleaders took part in intense conditioning and diet regimes and participated in four or five rehearsals per week. They were not allowed to attend parties or wear jewelry with their costumes, and they didn’t travel with the teams except to the playoffs and Super Bowl, per The New York Times.

By the 1990s, the rule book was hundreds of pages long, with lines as specific as which fork to use at dinner and directives to not speak about boyfriends in front of fans, according to Texas Monthly’s podcast America’s Girls.

The DCC’s current director is Kelli Finglass, and many of these decades-long rules have stayed the same under her tenure, as fans witnessed in the popular CMT reality TV show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.

Today there are still strict practice, game day, and event schedules to follow, some of which feature in Netflix’s 2024 documentary series America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Still, joining the team is a coveted dream for many.

“It was an instant sisterhood,” Toni Washington, a former cheerleader and Cowboys tour secretary in the 1980s, told The New York Times in 2018.

Finglass told PEOPLE in 2024 that the rules may be strict but she stands by them. “I don’t make excuses for our standards,” she said. “It is a highly visible organization with very elite dancers and the uniform is amazing and beautiful and custom-tailored to each individual figure … I’m not making any excuses.”

Here’s everything to know about the rules Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders need to follow.

There are rules to follow before even making the team

 

In order to try out, all hopefuls must be at least 18 years old by the time preliminary auditions begin but there is no stated age limit. Non-mandatory audition prep classes are taught by current and former cheerleaders and are said to help hopefuls come audition time.

In order to apply, dancers must submit a headshot, full-length photo, 20-second intro video and dance video. During auditions, judges focus on dance technique, high kicks, splits, showmanship, personal appearance, energy, enthusiasm, poise, figure and personality, per the DCC’s website.

All cheerleaders must be flexible and able to perform the splits by the start of the season. There’s also a written test that evaluates dancers’ knowledge of the Cowboys and football in general.

In 1978, a New York Times reporter wrote that the Cowboys cheerleader tryouts he observed were “as tense as that at an open casting call for Broadway production.” He wrote that the women auditioning needed to be able to dance well, as the sideline routines were highly choreographed, and “a large measure of bubbly or charm” was a must for off-season television appearances and public ceremonies.

Cheerleaders must attend all rehearsals

 

Before the NFL season begins, there are two to five mandatory rehearsals, followed by a set schedule once the season starts. Rehearsals are in the evenings, with extra weekend rehearsals for the Show Group, an elite group of 12 cheerleaders, and Rookies.

The DCC website states in all caps: “CANDIDATES WHO DO NOT FEEL THEY CAN ATTEND ALL REHEARSALS SHOULD NOT CONTEMPLATE BEING A DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADER.”

Contracts with the DCC are one year and include participation in rehearsals, travel, cheer and dance camps for children and media interviews. In other words, as the Dallas Cowboys website states, “Total commitment is required!!!!”

Strict attendance rules have been part of the DCC since its early days. According to America’s Girls, Waterman’s original rules stated that cheerleaders couldn’t miss rehearsals and years later, Mitchell added more rules that included “no showing up at rehearsal without your hair and makeup done” and “no wedding rings on game day.”

At the bottom of a rules list from the ‘90s, read on the podcast, was the line, “There will be many other unwritten rules given during the course of the year.”

Cheerleaders must maintain a certain body shape

On an episode of America’s Girls dedicated to the DCC’s rules, host Sarah Hepola read from a 30-year-old “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Basic Rules and Regulations” guide, which stated that cheerleaders couldn’t gain weight.

According to many former cheerleaders she spoke to, the weight mandate was the loudest of all. The DCC website now states that there are no weight requirements, but they expect that cheerleaders “look well-proportioned in dancewear.”

Fans of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team saw these dynamics when some hopefuls got chided about specific body parts. Over the decades, there were allegedly standard weigh-ins, and according to The New York Times, Mitchell would sometimes “circle cheerleaders’ body parts in photos to show where they needed to trim down.”

“Your shorts were custom-fitted to you, and they’d always say, ‘We’ll take it up, but we won’t let it out,’ ” Washington told The New York Times in 2018. “It was like a finishing school.”

Though there was allegedly an infamous “Weight List” with the weight girls had to adhere to and problem areas that needed fixing in order for cheerleaders to be allowed to perform, in recent years, regular weigh-ins were dismantled.

In one episode of the 2024 Netflix series, a cheerleading hopeful is turned away for being too short while Finglass and other cheerleaders discuss the modern rule book.

“You don’t get a new uniform. Once you’re fitted for that uniform, that size is the size that you get. You don’t get to go up. If you go up, they’re like, ‘Why does this not fit you?’ ” a veteran cheerleader said.

Cheerleaders’ hair must be worn down

Even during rehearsals, hair must be flowing. “Now it’s about the girls being as glamorous as they can,” Finglass told PEOPLE in 2016. “They all wear their hair down — even in rehearsal.”

In 2016, a third-year vet named Melissa told PEOPLE that most cheerleaders are used to having their hair pulled back, making dancing a little different for a DCC. “We not only have our hair styled and down the entire game, but our dances almost always have some form of ‘hairography,’ ” she said.

Cowboys cheerleader choreographer Judy Trammell told PEOPLE that the movement of the hair is more important than the length.

Whether short or long, hairstyles should be “current” and never hide one’s face. The girls must maintain the look they established with DCC officials, which is how they appear in their publicity photos. All upkeep takes place year-round at the DCC’s official salon, Tangerine.

“That’s actually kind of exciting and that’s a real fun perk, especially for the girls that come from small towns and went to a little local beauty parlor and then you come to this Dallas salon with two stories, 20 stylists, and equipment that looks like you could fly to the moon in it,” Finglass said. “It’s really quite glamorous.”

Cheerleaders’ makeup should be neutral and natural

As part of what DCC leadership has described as the cheerleaders’ wholesome look, there’s a strong focus on a natural aesthetic.

For auditions, it’s suggested that dancers “wear shades that complement your natural beauty.” Matte eyeshadows are preferred — a little shimmer is okay, but nothing too glittery — as are vibrant yet neutral cheek and lip colors. Once on the squad, red lips and nails are not allowed, Finglass told PEOPLE in 2016.

Long and solid false eyelashes should be avoided, as should spray tans that are too dark, have orange tones or overuse contouring and highlighting. The women’s tans, generally spray-ons, are maintained through memberships at Palm Beach Tan and Planet Tan in Dallas.

Uniforms are provided — and must be returned

 

Basic uniforms and rehearsal gear are provided, according to the DCC’s website, and all of the team’s property must be returned before the final auditions of the following season.

After a Playboy scandal in which a DCC hopeful posed in a branded T-shirt, Mitchell implemented strict uniform rules in the 1980s. Former Dallas cheerleader Dana Presley Killmer shared on the America’s Girls podcast that uniforms were signed in and out because Mitchell “didn’t want it in the wrong hands.”

Cheerleaders must supply their own hosiery

Finglass told PEOPLE that the cheerleaders “supply their own hosiery.”

“They wear skin-toned hosiery with the uniform,” she said. “They’ve all found the brands they individually like. It’s got to be sheer, and it can’t peak out of the uniform — like it can’t be ‘reinforced,’ anything like that — because it has to look very natural.”

Cheerleaders must adhere to a clean and wholesome appearance

 

According to writer Candy Evans, who wrote 1982’s A Decade of Dreams, one of the only books about the history of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Mitchell wanted “to keep” a nice, clean image, which “she did really maintain for those cheerleaders.”

“On Sundays, we were supposed to be the sexy cheerleaders on the sideline. The rest of the time, we were supposed to be perceived as squeaky clean,” Presley Killmer said of dancing in the 1980s. “High heels, pantyhose, business suit, makeup and hair done, mannerly, good etiquette.”

They allegedly were also not allowed to be seen with or near alcohol, nor could they chew gum. During Mitchell’s time, cheerleaders reportedly weren’t allowed to wear jeans or curlers in public. In the 1990s, the rulebook also included notes on how cheerleaders should be dressing off the field, with one section noting, according to the podcast, “it is dangerous even to be out in your car in a skimpy manner.”

Cheerleaders aren’t barred from having tattoos, but no ink, even small pieces, may be visible when in uniform or rehearsal clothes.

The DCC’s wholesome, American look is spelled out on their website, with an image that points to nearly every body part along with a company to help any fan try to imitate it, from tans to lashes to Lucchese boots. There are also tutorials for achieving game-day hair and makeup plus fitness routines.

Cheerleaders cannot fraternize with players

Though it’s unclear if this is still as strict a rule today as it was in the 1970s and ‘80s, cheerleaders were not allowed to fraternize with Cowboys players, coaches or staff, nor journalists. According to the America’s Girls podcast, this rule was so well-known it didn’t need to be written down.

“Cowboys cheerleaders were off limits, and I think that only added to the aura of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, which separated them from a lot of other cheerleader groups around the country,” retired TV sports reporter Dale Hansen said on the podcast.

If cheerleaders were caught dating players, they were allegedly kicked off the team. The male players, however, were reportedly not.

Cheerleaders are paid on a schedule

 

Despite the strict rules on and off the field, NFL cheerleaders have historically been paid minimally for their services — in 1977, Cowboys cheerleaders received $15 per home game, per The New York Times.

These days, the DCC website does not state exact compensation but does note there is “a pay schedule for rehearsals, home football games, promo appearances & shows.” A pay dispute between former cheerleader Erica Wilkins and the Dallas Cowboys was settled in 2019 — a representative for the team had no comment on the lawsuit when asked by PEOPLE at the time.

According to America’s Girls, cheerleaders now reportedly make $12 an hour and $400 on game day.

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