The Dallas Cowboys may very well be the most popular football team in the entire world. Athletes dream of playing for the team, and talented dancers dream of becoming their cheerleaders. It’s not hard to see what attracts so much young talent: after a few years with the Cowboys, it seems like anyone involved could write their own ticket.
However, life as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader isn’t necessarily everything it’s cracked up to be. That was what Victoria Kalina discovered after serving four years with the team and finally quitting. She eventually came to grips with how her time with the Cowboys was like an abusive relationship, and how she needed to leave for the sake of her own mental health.
But what was it that specifically drove Kalina away? And how did she later help to protect others from repeating her mistakes? Keep reading to find out!
A lifetime of dance training
Most of the time, breathless reports about people training for their entire lives to achieve a certain goal are (at best) gentle exaggerations or (at worst) clickbait fabrications. But in the case of Victoria Kaline, it’s both fair and accurate to say that she spent her lifetime preparing to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Her mother Tina had been one such cheerleader back in the ‘80s, and her daughter had dreams of following in her footsteps.
Tina snuck Victoria into dance classes only a few months after her daughter learned how to walk. And once Victoria was six years old, she began competing in dance competitions throughout Texas. Everyone in these competitions had their own motivations, but Victoria remained focused on a singular goal. Simply put, she was going to become a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader no matter the cost!