Before they step out onto the field, the Chiefs Cheerleaders acknowledge that each moment could be their last as a team. Just like the football players, a next game in the postseason is not guaranteed. “It’s nerve-wracking but exciting,” said Grace, a Chiefs Cheer veteran. “Really, we just have to be there and accept our fate. We feel really lucky.” From the early 90s until 2018, the Chiefs rarely made it through Wild Card rounds into the postseason. Since 2018, Kansas City’s beloved team has at least made it to the conference championships, or won the Super Bowl — keeping the cheer team alive longer, too. If the Chiefs win on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, the cheerleaders will get to perform at the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
Grace has been on the team for four years and performed at the last two Super Bowls, but this year has been very special to her, she said. Fourteen rookies joined the squad who have been “the perfect pieces in our puzzle.” “We’ve really bonded this year, and I think it’s the perfect match and everything we’ve done this year … it’s everything we could have wished for and more,” Grace said.
The NFL requested that The Star only use the first names of the cheerleaders for privacy and security reasons.
The Chiefs Cheer team performs at every home game, and will travel with the team to New Orleans if they make it to the Super Bowl again this year. Courtesy of the Chiefs Grace grew up dancing recreationally in Topeka and joined her high school dance team to compete against other schools in the area. When she graduated, she danced competitively with the Sugar Bears at Missouri State, but the pandemic cut her college dance career short. “A lot of things got canceled because of COVID my senior year, and I decided I wasn’t done,” she said.
She auditioned for the Chiefs Cheer team to keep dance as a part of her life. “You come for dance, but I’m leaving [with] so many values because of this team,” she said. Grace is one of the 33 women who step onto the field along with the Chiefs. They perform at every home game and practice twice a week for five to six hours each night. They volunteer at community events, read to Kansas City students and make appearances around the city until next year’s auditions in the summer.
The cheerleaders train to perform in icy, snowy and severe weather conditions, and memorize three new routines for each game. The team performs one pregame routine, and one after each quarter, along with sideline routines to engage with fans at Arrowhead. Fellow cheer teammate Ashton said that they will have as many as nine dances floating in their heads on a weekly basis. With 17 weeks in the regular season, the team has learned more than 50 routines. By the playoffs, the team brings back favorite routines from the regular season, Ashton said.
“Playoffs are something different in the best way,” she said. “The fans are louder, even last weekend in the cold, it was roaring, it was so loud. There’s nothing like running out into the end zone and hearing the crowd.”
Ashton grew up in Kansas City and, like Grace and many of her teammates, danced recreationally when she was little. She joined her high school dance team and danced on the Kansas State University dance team. “Chiefs Cheer are local celebrities,” Ashton said. “One of my good friends tried out and made it, and I got to see an inside look [at] how incredible it was, and it inspired me to audition.”
Although she didn’t make the team her first time she auditioned, she kept training and made it the second time around. “Being an NFL cheerleader is our dream, and the success of the Chiefs has been amazing. Each day, each extra practice we get we are so grateful for,” Ashton said. “We’ve really tried to embody joy this year. … An alum passed away early this year; she exuded joy and we take it into our hearts. This team finds joy in every single way.”
We laugh together, we cry together. Joy has really been our fuel.” Fourth year veteran Ari said that the postseason makes it easier to be intentional during practices and performances. “You spend a lot of time preparing for the next game, you are consistently moving [from] chapter to chapter,” Ari said. “Postseason, every next game is not guaranteed.” Born and raised in Hawaii, Ari grew up dancing hula and hip hop. When she moved to Kansas City shortly after graduating college, she auditioned for the Chiefs Cheer team to find her community.
“When I came in, I didn’t know how far this journey would take me. I didn’t know what was in store, but it’s grown into such a large community,” she said. “That’s one of the biggest takeaways: it doesn’t stop here. Once you’re in, you’re in, and you can take as much as you want to pull from it.”
