The Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders is the professional

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

squad of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. The squad performs in front of more than 65,000 fans each game day at

Hard Rock Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Southeastern United States, located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the Univers ...

. squad hosts auditions every May. Like most other teams in the league, the MDC also has a youth cheer squad and help mentor young girls in the Miami area. The squad also makes USO trips. Every year, the MDC sends a cheerleader to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

History

The group's inaugural season was in , but the cheerleading squad was around since the team's inception since . The original squad was known as the Dolphins Dolls, consisting in 125 girls ranging from 8 to 18 years of age. The group performed in the

Miami Orange Bowl The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, from 1937 until 2008. The stadium was located in the Little Havana neighborhood west of Greater Downtown Miami, downtown Miami. The venue was considered a landmark and ser ...

until 1977. The professional group came around in 1978 under owner

Joe Robbie Joseph Robbie (July 7, 1916 – January 7, 1990) was an American attorney, politician, and the principal founder of the Miami Dolphins. Early life Robbie was raised in Sisseton, South Dakota, the second of five children. His father was a Leban ...

, consisting of 30 women. The group was then-known as the Starbrites, under a sponsorship with Starbrite Car Polish until 1983, when the sponsorship ended. The Dolphins made a deal with

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

to hold a "Name the Cheerleaders" contest, and the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders was ultimately selected. In 1990, founder June Taylor retired and was replaced by Kathy Morton Shashaty, who was a Dolphins cheerleader from 1981–1985. When Jimmy Johnson was brought in to coach the NFL team, he also brought Dorie Braddy, a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, to be the cheer manager. She ran the squad from 1996-2004, when she named Heather Phillips the new cheer manager and she moved into game entertainment full-time. Heather Phillips would leave after 2007, at which point Emily Newton took over. Another former DCC, Trisia Brown, was hired as choreographer.

Notable members

* Nadia Turner, (1996), Season 4 ''

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'' contestant * Suzy Tavarez, (1998–2000), On-Air Personality, Miami radio station Y100-FM * Brenda Lowe, (2004–2005), contestant from '' Survivor: Nicaragua'' and '' Survivor: Caramoan''; later appeared as a model on ''

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''. * Jaime Faith Edmondson, (2004–2009), contestant from ''

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'' in

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and

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(partnered with Cara Rosenthal, also a member). *

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, reporter and news anchor for

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Network * Jeanette Dousdebes, wife of former

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

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* Mireya Mayor, National Geographic Wildlife Correspondent and History Channel's "Expedition:Africa" Wildlife Expert and Explorer. * MJ Acosta-Ruiz, NFL Network Anchor

References

External links

Official website

Miami Dolphins official website

{{NFL cheerleading squads Miami Dolphins NFL cheerleading squads Performing groups established in 1978 Culture of Miami 1978 establishments in Florida History of women in Florida