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 activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

squad of the

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

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. The squad performs a variety of dance moves at the

Hard Rock Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium 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 University of Miami's NCAA Division I college ...

, the home stadium of the Dolphins. The Dolphins Cheerleaders released an annual swimsuit calendar every year. The squad hosts auditions every May. Like most other squads 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 (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

. The MDC also sends a number of alumni to the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

every year.

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 Downtown Miami. The Miami Orange Bowl was considered a landmark and served as the ho ...

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 Lebanes ...

, consisting of 30 ladies. The group was 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 (BK) is an American-based 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 Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

to hold a "Name the Cheerleaders" contest, and the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders was ultimately selected. Many of the girls are considered to be very attractive. In 1990, founder

June Taylor Marjorie June Taylor (December 14, 1917 – May 16, 2004) was an American choreographer, best known as the founder of the June Taylor Dancers, who were featured on Jackie Gleason's various television variety programs. Early life and career Taylo ...

retired and was replaced by Kathy Morton Shashaty, who was a Dolphins cheerleader from 1981–1985. After the Dolphins was purchased by

Wayne Huizenga Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr. (; December 29, 1937 – March 22, 2018) was an American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He founded AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., and was the owner or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the Miami ...

, Heather Phillips was brought in to be the Director of Cheerleaders, while Emily Newton and Trisia Brown were hired to be the squad's coordinator and choreographer, respectively.

Notable members

Nadia Turner Nadia Turner (born January 11, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and radio/television personality, best known as the eighth place finalist on the fourth season of ''American Idol.'' Career Pre-''American Idol'' Turner was a for ...

, (1996), Season 4 ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' contestant * Suzy Tavarez, (1998–2000), On-Air Personality, Miami radio station

Y100-FM Y1 has several uses including: * Boeing Y1, the anticipated replacement for the company's existing Boeing 737 airliner * Great Northern Y-1, an electric locomotive used by the Great Northern Railway (U.S.), Great Northern Railway. * Y1 adrenocortica ...

*Shannon Ford, (2001), Miss Florida USA 2002, contestant on The Bachelor Season 3,

Mrs. United States Mrs. (American English) or Mrs (British English; standard English pronunciation: ) is a commonly used English honorific for women, usually for those who are married and who do not instead use another title (or rank), such as ''Doctor'', ''Prof ...

2011 winner, Mrs. Florida America 2019, and

Mrs. Universe Mrs. Universe is an annual international event for "the most honorable married woman". The event is open to married, divorced, and widowed women from nations on all continents around the world, who are between the ages of 18 and 55, have a family ...

2021 *Hennely Jimenez (2003–2004), Actress, 200 mph *Bibiana Julian, (2006–2009), contestant from '' The Bachelor''. * Brenda Lowe, (2004–2005), contestant from '' Survivor: Nicaragua'' and '' Survivor: Caramoan''; later appeared as a model on ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...

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

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

'' in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

(partnered with Cara Rosenthal, also a member). *Ashley White, (2007–2008), reporter of

WYFF WYFF (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States, serving Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Ruther ...

Pamela Silva Conde Pamela Silva (born August 16, 1981) is a Peruvian-American six time Emmy award winning journalist and co-anchor of the Univision Network's weekday newsmagazine, "Primer Impacto" in Miami. (First Impact) one of the highest rating programs in the Un ...

, reporter and news anchor for

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

Network *

Jeanette Dousdebes Jeanette Christina Dousdebes Rubio (born December 5, 1973) is an American former cheerleader, who is married to United States Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Marco Rubio. Early life Jeanette was born in Florida, to parents who had emig ...

, wife of

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...

*Brittany Freeman,

Miss New Hampshire Teen USA The Miss New Hampshire Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of New Hampshire in the Miss Teen USA pageant. It was directed by The Clemente Organization based in Malden, Massachusetts from 2013 to 2019. ...

2004. *

Mireya Mayor Mireya Mayor (born 1973) is an American anthropologist, primatologist, and wildlife correspondent for the National Geographic, part of a research expedition that discovered a new species of lemur, considered the world’s smallest primate. She has ...

, National Geographic Wildlife Correspondent and History Channel's "Expedition:Africa" Wildlife Expert and Explorer. *LauRen Merola,

Miss Pennsylvania USA The Miss Pennsylvania USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Pennsylvania in the Miss USA pageant. It has been previously known as Miss Pennsylvania Universe. This pageant is independently conducted and ...

2008 * Fabiola Romero, Original member of the FSU Cowgirls *Lilly Robbins, Maxim Model *Cara Rosenthal, contestant from ''The Amazing Race''. *Natalie Vickers, news anchor of

MountainWest Sports Network The MountainWest Sports Network, also known as The Mtn. (stylized as the mtn.), was an American college sports television channel. Launched on September 1, 2006, it was dedicated to the Mountain West Conference (MWC), including studio programs fo ...

*MJ Acosta- Ruiz, NFL Network Anchor *Ashley Williams, Miss Virginia USA 2023 *Anna Noriega, Celebrity Event & Wedding Planner owner of Alorè Event Firm and part of the founding members of the official Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders Alumni Association

References

External links

Official website

Miami Dolphins official website

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