The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have their 2024-2025 squad.
The team announced the news on Instagram Tuesday, sharing pictures of the smiling 12 rookies and 24 returning members as they hold up shiny new blue and white uniforms.
“WE MADE THE TEAM!” reads the caption.
The cheerleaders, who also simply go by DCC, have been top of the public pop culture mind since June, when Netflix dropped the seven-part docuseries “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.” The show quickly reached top-watched status on the streaming platform, giving fans a group of hopefuls to cheer for, cry with and follow even after the show wrapped.
Several fan favorites make an appearance on the new squad, from girls who didn’t quite make the cut in 2023 to some returning for their second, third or fourth season.
Hoping your fav made the team? Here’s the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleads lineup for the upcoming season.
Who are the new Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders?
The squad of 36 is welcoming 12 new members this season, some who are brand new to DCC and some who have auditioned before.
The new additions to the team are:
- Abby Summers graduated from Ohio State University in 2023 after dancing on the decorated Ohio State Dance Team. “What a dream!!! I am so blessed with this opportunity and I cannot wait to dance next to these girls,” she wrote on Instagram.
- Allison Khong is a graduate of Texas A&M and is working on her master’s in healthcare administration at Texas Tech University. In an Instagram post, she shared her new position on the team, saying: “Someone pinch me.”
- Darah Haidet recently graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism from Louisiana State University and served as the captain of the school’s nationally decorated dance team, the LSU Tiger Girls. “Truly feel speechless that I get to be on a team with these people, best day of my life,” she wrote on Instagram.
- Ariel Brumfield also was an LSU Tiger Girl who served as captain her senior year on the team. She later went on to secure the title of a D1A Hip Hop National Champion. “I am so honored and blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime. A DREAM COME TRUE TIMES A THOUSAND,” she said on Instagram.
- Ava Lahey graduated from the University of Kentucky in June with a bachelor’s in education, having served on the UK dance team. “This milestone represents the culmination of a lifelong journey as a dancer, and a dream I’ve chased with every ounce of passion and determination,” she said on Instagram.
- Charly Barby: was the final hopeful cut during training camp last year on “America’s Sweethearts.” She promised she’d be back this year and kept her word. “What a legacy to be a part of. I am SO. EXCITED,” she said on the DCC Instagram page.
- Julissa Garcia is a Texas Tech University alumna who also served on the college’s dance team, called the Pom Squad. “I am so honored and blessed to be part of this incredible organization with these talented and inspiring women,” she wrote on Instagram.
- Kelly Villares also appeared in “America’s Sweethearts,” where she was cut in the third season after undergoing a makeover that dyed her formerly blonde hair brown. “My lifelong dream came true today, and this will be a day I will never forget,” she said on Instagram.
- Madie Krueger comes from an impressive dance background, having been crowned Miss Dance of Texas 2021 and 2023. “Love each of these girls so much and can’t wait to see what the year holds,” she said on Instagram.
- Michelle Siemienowski graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a bachelor’s in economics and dance. She is also an alumna of the UCSB dance team and was a member of Alpha Phi. “So blessed to be able to dance with these incredible women on the field this season. Go Cowboys!” she wrote on her Instagram.
- Sophia Brown comes from another professional cheerleading team, having danced in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets in the 2023-2024 season. “This journey has truly been a testimony of faith and I am honored to be given an opportunity such as this,” she wrote on Instagram. “I am humbled to become apart of such an amazing team and organization.”
- Trinity Miles is also an alumna of her alma mater’s dance team, having danced at Texas Christian University for the TCU Showgirls. “A night I will never forget,” she said on Instagram. “I am beyond humbled, grateful and thrilled to say that I AM A DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADER!!!”
‘America’s Sweethearts’: Why we can’t look away from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders docuseries
Returning and veteran members include:
- Reece Weaver
- Anna Kate Sundvold
- Camille Sturdivant
- Brooklyn Davis
- Kennedy Hannan
- McKenna Gehrke
- Zoë Dale
- Taylor Altieri
- Sophy Laufer
- Madeline Salter
- Chandi Dayle
- Lea Tunnell
- Kleine Powell
- KayDianna MacKenzie
- Armani Latimer
- Amanda Howard
- Kylie Dickson
- Jada Mclean
- Megan McElaney
- Kally Bethea
- Karley Swindel
- Marissa Phillips
- Tori Skillings
- Kelee Norris
Netflix’s ‘America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’
“America’s Sweethearts,” Netflix’s documentary series about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, garnered a lot of attention after its release in late June. Viewers loved the idea of getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the seemingly glamorous ins and outs of the team.
The show pulled back the curtains across seven episodes, following the team from 2023 auditions, through training camp, the regular season and their Thanksgiving performance with country legend Dolly Parton, who donned the famous DCC uniform.
A lot of the attention on “America’s Sweethearts” ended up being more negative than adoring, however, with some audience members expressing shock at what they perceived as misogyny, obsessive body shaming, brutal perfectionism, intense expectations and interpersonal conflict the dancers faced, all on top of being paid what some equated to the same as a Chic-fil-A worker.
Of course, it also created some fan-favorite characters for viewers to follow after the performance, some of whom ended up making the team as returning members or newbies this year.
The docuseries was the second such show made about the team, the first being the CMT reality series “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team,” which ran from 2006 to 2021.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who are the newbie Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders? New squad announced
