GIRLS
Late one August evening in a practice dome in Davie, Florida, thirty-nine young women in short skirts and white go-go boots thrust synchronized kicks into the air. The threat of Hurricane Fay looms, but every one of the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders is present for practice. “Even if you’ve had a horrible day, walking in here changes how you feel about everything,” says Bibiana Julian, 21, a full-time communications student at Florida International University who was voted FHM’s sexiest cheerleader as a rookie two years ago. She schedules her classes around her cheerleading commitments, making sure to allow enough time on practice days for a drive that can last more than an hour. “It’s challenging, but so worthwhile,” says Julian, a long-time Miamian who aspired to be a Dolphins cheerleader since middle school and auditioned the moment she turned 18.
For most of the women, the four-hour practices come on top of a full day of work or school, and Sunday-night games, media appearances, runway shows, and photo shoots must also be worked into the week. Amy Madill, 22, is juggling her final semester of college and a bartending job in addition to her first season as a professional cheerleader. Fabiola Ramero, 26, comes to practice after putting in a full day as a marketer at an MRI center.
At $75 a game, they’re certainly not in it for the money. But ever since the NFL professionalized cheerleading in the 1960s, the cheerleader has represented a quintessentially American beauty ideal—one that’s only grown more potent in recent years, thanks to Hollywood films like Bring It On. Joining their ranks carries considerable cachet, especially in Miami, where fame and sex appeal are highly valued commodities. With their bold, booty-shaking routines, the Dolphins cheerleaders are, along with the famous Dallas Cowboys squad, among the most visible in the country, and a stint on the sidelines can serve as a springboard to a career in the public eye. Just ask Lilly Robbins, 20, who’s twice been named one of the five hottest cheerleaders in the NFL by Maxim. “It’s all people want to talk to you about,” says Robbins, who hopes to parlay the experience into a career in sports broadcasting.
Every spring since 1978, hundreds of girls vying to follow in Robbins’s footsteps have enrolled in Dolphins-sponsored prep classes and partaken in a four-part tryout process, in the hopes of being one of the forty dancers to make the cut. Once the tryouts
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