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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 are over, the competition only intensifies, as a strict hierarchy shapes the girls’ interactions with both the public and one another. The rookies are at the bottom of the pecking order, while veterans ascend to leadership positions based on seniority— but they too are required to reaudition every season.

Ariann Denison, 28, has been a Dolphins cheerleader for four years. Now a team captain responsible for one of the four groups that anchor each corner of the field during a game, Denison says she still feels the pressure. “We bear the brunt of being responsible for everything, positive and negative,” she explains. Emily Newton, the Dolphins cheerleading coordinator (and a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader), says it’s necessary to continue to up the ante for the veterans. “They have to be continuously improving. If they’re going to return, they have to be able to give something to the rookies,” she explains.

For the rookies, that veteran support is vital to handling the job. “The hardest part is training camp, right when you come in, and you do need that big sister to tell you that you’re going to push through,” says Julian. Privately, some of the team members confess to more serious pressures. “We get randomly weighed,” says one rookie who asked not to be named, “and some of the girls have been given ultimatums to lose a certain number of pounds in one or two weeks.” She also levies accusations of favoritism against the team’s management, pointing out that the same handful of girls are selected for the majority of the photo shoots (including this one) and special appearances, even though those opportunities are often sources of extra income, as well as all-important launching pads for modeling, dancing, and acting careers.

The anonymous rookie isn’t the only one on the squad who feels that way—but most cheerleaders are glass-half-full types by nature. Robbins, a lifelong Dolphins fan, says it’s all worth it come game day. “It’s amazing,” she says. “We have the best seats in the house.”

MAKEUP ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ AND NAOMI J. ROBLES DUPREY
HAIR TODD JAMESON, A. SONIA CLEGG, CAROLYN DUFFY FOR NUE STUDIO
PRODUCTION ERICA MERCADO
POST-PRODUCTION DIPPIN' SAUCE
SPECIAL THANKS BEN PUNDOLE, COLLEEN GRAHAM, EMILY NEWTON, JARED DOMOW, K&M CAMERA, THE C-LAB