Texans Cheer Tryouts

Houston Texans cheerleader tryouts bring sexy back: More than 1,000 hopefuls aim for 35 spots

Houston Texans Cheerleader Hopefuls at Tryouts (Photo courtesy of Miguel Sada)

Consider this Draft Day for the Houston Texans Cheerleaders. More than 1,000 (1,033 to be exact — the largest to date) hopefuls walked into the Methodist Training Center by way of a red carpet to try out for one of the 35 coveted spots on the cheerleading team.

Complete with glitter, fringe, bling, knee-high boots and Texas-sized spirit, the stakes were high during Round 1 of tryouts.

The dancers had 30 minutes to learn a choreographed dance, which they then showcased in front of Houston media, HTC alum, vets (who were also required to try out again for a spot on the new roster), a few hand-picked super-fans, and head coach Alto Gary herself.

To emphasize the stakes, they were surrounded by life-size blowups of the HTC swimsuit calendar months on the perimeter of the dance floor. Talk about an anxiety-inducing Saturday night!

The soundtrack for the night’s dance moves included a diverse sampling of Gwen Stefani, Maroon 5, Toby Keith, David Guetta, Justin Timberlake, Lucenzo and much more. After performing their newly-learned choreograph dance, each contestant was given 15 seconds of “freestyle” to show the judges her own unique flair. Some excelled, some yelled, and some just fell.

“I’m taking 35 of these girls with me to the Super Bowl,” Gary exclaimed. She has been the first and only coach since HTC was established in 2002, and this year she sees even bigger things for her popular squad.

One Texans staff member was noting how many came decked out and ready to shine. “Some of the girls didn’t put enough glue on their outfits — we’ll be picking up feathers out of the turf for hours,” he joked of the scene. But the intensity was there.

I wish I could say there weren’t any wardrobe malfunctions or twerking in the night’s festivities, but with so many contestants in attendance, you already know the odds were in favor of Cyrus’ dance moves.

The night was entertaining to say the least, and as a fan, I can certainly say I’m not only excited to see what the Houston Texans can produce on the field, but what we’ll be showcasing on the sidelines as well. Follow the remaining rounds of tryouts at HoustonTexans.com starting Tuesday where fans can vote for the 50 Finalists. The final 2014 HTC squad will be announced on Draft Day on May 8.

In the words of JT, these ladies are in fact bringing sexy back to Reliant Stadium…we mean NRG Stadium.

This article originally ran in the sport’s section of Culture Map. Click here to see the original article in its entirety.