Courtney (S10 TCC)

* Ever since she was 6-years-old, she’s known she’s wanted to be a DCC. Last year, two days before preliminaries, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Courtney didn’t know if she’d be okay or survive. It was hard for her to stay focused on dancing and auditions. She made it to finals and didn’t make training camp. It was devastating, but she was able to spend the summer with her mother and she went through surgery and the treatment. She is determined to get better, and is doing well, currently. She’s Courtney’s biggest cheerleader and supporter. Courtney wants that attitude when she’s auditioning, and know if she makes the team, her mother will be watching her at every game.

## **Confessionals**

Total: 36

Season 9: 2

Season 10: 34 (**Most in season**)

### **Season 9**

**(9.1)**

* [*First cheerleader confessional of the season*] Today, we’re at AT&T Stadium. It’s Prelims. Being a DCC is something I’ve wanted to do my entire life, and I’ve prepared all year for this.
* Seeing Kelli, I was so excited. It just made everything real.

### **Season 10**

**(10.1)**

* This is the most elite team you could ever audition for. This is the best of the best, the absolute top of the cheerleading world.
* Biography
* We’re here at AT&T Stadium for the semifinal round and I’m feeling very nervous because you can’t really prepare for today.
* Everybody’s kind of in panic mode practicing the dance and getting ready to out there and perform for the judges.

**(10.2)**

* Today, we’re here at AT&T Stadium for our panel interviews, and this is the first step in the final audition process. The stakes are very high today. It’s very important that you have a good interview.
* Today, you absolutely have to give it 100%, and just dance your heart out, because this determines who goes to training camp, and who’s in training camp determines who’s on the team.
* Everybody is just last-minute running around, fixing their hair, putting on their costumes, pinning themselves. And we’re about to go out there and perform our solo for the judges.
* I want to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader so badly, but I have to get over this hurdle of making it further than I did last year. I have to show a big improvement.
* It’s really, really hard to get your kicks up there after you’ve just danced an entire routine. It’s so exhausting.
* We just finished the day for final auditions, and we’re all anxiously waiting. The longer we wait, honestly, the worse it gets.
* So, when Kelli called my name, I was so surprised and so happy.

**(10.3)**

* Finals was three weeks ago, and now we’re here at Valley Ranch for our first meeting. I’m feeling so nervous, it’s like the first day of school’s jitters plus first date jitters times 10,000.
* Melissa did compare us to the vets, saying that the vets were a lot stronger and they were clearly out-dancing us. But that only motivates me to do better.
* We’re here at the Verandah Club. We’re getting some last-minute tips from the veteran Jennifer and from Melissa Rycroft. Hopefully, we can really work on that dance that we learned last night.

**(10.4)**

* [Fan kicks] That’s something that I really, really am going to have to work on. Because I do not want to go home for kicks. I don’t want to go home at all.
* [Uniform fitting] I was shaking the whole way here. This just makes it real. You’re putting on the uniform.
* [Uniform fitting] They’re talking bras and fixing your bust area.
* [Mile run] I wanted to take the lead right away. I like to take initiative and get ahead. That was my strategy today.
* I won my one-mile run. And I think that this just really proves that I worked really hard on my body and my endurance.

**(10.5)**

* I absolutely think the nerves are getting to me. I mean, I try to focus on not making mistakes, but that almost makes it worse.
* Today’s makeovers. I’m really excited. Training camp has been really tough, mentally and emotionally, but today is just a fun day.
* Now that I look the part, I’m absolutely ready to dance the part.
* [Belk fashion show] About to go out there. We’re just minutes away from getting to walk the runway, and Kelli and Judy are going to be evaluating us, so it’s definitely nerve-wracking.
* Seeing the DCC alumni is so motivating because it just makes me want even more to be part of this organization.

**(10.6)**

* It is really scary to have a guest choreographer on a day that you know that could be a cut night. I mean, they could come in with a style that I’m completely unfamiliar with.

**(10.7)**

* It’s really important that I figure out this practice, how to look good on the field because that’s something Kelli and Judy are absolutely going to expect from us tonight.
* We have rehearsal in a few hours. This session could’ve made the difference of me getting cut tonight or not.
* I spent two years working for this goal, and my dream is on the line.
* When Kelli said she could take even lower than 36, I was shocked because she kept saying 36 all training camp. It’s really scary knowing that even if they do cut two girls tonight it’s still not over. It still means that I could get cut.
* They called my name a lot, and I do not want to hear my name called because that can’t mean anything good.
* Tonight is really hard mentally. It’s so nerve-wracking when you’re dancing because you know that if you get one move wrong, that could send you home.
* [Office visits announced, crying] It’s been such a long journey, and I mean I’m hours away from the team being announced, and I just don’t want to go home right now.
* [Before office] I know that they’ve been making the final cuts tonight, so I just don’t want that to be me. I’m really scared of what’s going to happen.
* [After cut, crying] I worked so hard. And I’m literally hours away from making the team, but I just couldn’t push through the end. And it’s really upsetting because it’s so close.

## **Commentary**

### **Season 10**

**(10.1)**

* Do you recognize Courtney from last year? – K/ I do. I like her. – Charlotte
* [Preliminaries judging] She looked really good, I thought. She’s leaner, her hair is more mature. She ignited the room. She looked fresh. She looks stronger than she did last year. She had fifteen yeses. – K
* She came back full of confidence, didn’t she? – Melissa Rycroft/ Yes. – J
* She’s my favorite so far. – Charlotte
* [Semifinals judging] If y’all remember, she tried out last year. So how many yeses? – K [*Almost everyone raises hand*]/ She was confident out there. – Melissa Rycroft

**(10.2)**

* I like Courtney. This is where she lost it last year, right? – K/ Yeah. – J
* Good for her. I like her. – Melissa Rycroft
* [Finals deliberations] I liked her, last week. I think she’s adorable. I love her smile. – Melissa Rycroft/ I thought she was real energetic and fun to watch with her solo. And the, when she got to the field, she just fell apart. – Charlotte/ Yeah./ When I made the comment, I was like, “isn’t this where she got cut last year?” making me think maybe it’s a field thing. – Melissa Rycroft

**(10.3)**

* The clunkiest in here is Courtney. – J
* Courtney is a great performer, but she’s doing everything wrong with her feet. – J
* You’re going to be a “take-home” girl, I hope. Your face saves you. You’ve got to let your feet save you, too. – J

**(10.4)**

* You’re not doing a fan kick. – K
* Courtney didn’t seem to understand the concept of a fan kick, which is different than a straight kick. – K
* Do you understand a fan kick? – K/ Corner to corner. – Courtney/ Right, but have you ever done those? – K/ I have not. – Courtney/ If you’re 12:00 on the clock, you’ve got to at least hit 10:00 to 2:00. At least. – K

**(10.5)**

* Feet all over the place, and someday, I’m hoping I can quit saying that, because you have everything else that’s great. – J
* [Fashion show] Oh, gosh. She can’t walk. – J
* I love your face when you perform. – Kitty Carter
* We all see fun potential. – K/ Oh, I love her. – Kitty Carter

**(10.6)**

* I would not put you on the field, right now. – J

**(10.7)**

* The girls coming here today are all lacking in power, and so I think it’s time these girls get put into a real-life scenario. They’re going to act like it’s game day, and I’m gonna see what they’ve got. – Melissa Rycroft
* I was really impressed. It was clean. I felt like you were sharp, you were big. From day one you looked like you’re having fun when you’re dancing. – Melissa Rycroft
* Does Courtney make you nervous? – K/ Yes. – J
* I would say Courtney’s better on this than across the field. – K
* Both of you need more shoulders. You want to throw those shoulders in there. Like, Courtney, you’re too stiff in the upper body. – Loren
* Are you moving your shoulders at all? – Loren/ I’m trying to. Am I not moving them enough? – Courtney/ No. You’re so straight on, like throw a shoulder into it. – Loren
* Courtney didn’t get close to hitting the line. She does make me nervous. – K
* [Field entrance] I can tell you; I don’t like watching Courtney or Chantel on this. – K
* Your end position’s not pretty. It’s not correct. Make it really big and bold, your last picture moment. – J
* I’m not enjoying Kyndall or Courtney on this, are you? – K
* Watch Courtney’s feet. – J
* I don’t really like watching any one of them [Courtney, Kaleigh, and Kyndall] – K/ All three of them are falling apart. – J

## **Office Visits**

### **Season 10**

**(10.7)**

* [End of episode, fourth of four] When asked how she felt this week of training camp, Courtney says she felt overwhelmed, but feels like she’s improving, and that she can improve come football season. Kelli asks if she’d be surprised if they disagreed with her. [*Commercial break*] Kelli clarifies that they have seen progress and do see good things out of her. They’re watching her because they like to watch her, but she’s making mistakes with their style of dance and choreography. Courtney knows that she’s making mistakes, but really believes she could do it. Kelli says she’s confusing them. They want her to be successful here, but they can see she’s not ready. Courtney thinks she could be ready and wants to fight for it, and Kelli says she has been fighting. She’s fought and pushed, however they’re still coming to the same conclusion. They don’t want to say it, but tonight’s her last night. [*Courtney leaves*] Kelli says she’d be fun to have on the team, and thinks she’d be liked by her teammates and the fans.

## **End of Journey**

### **Season 10**

**(10.7)**

* Cut at the end of week 7 of training camp on the final night of cuts during her first office visit (12th of 12, 34 left afterwards)

## **Other**

### **Season 9**

**(9.1)**

* She's shown being invited to finals

### **Season 10**

**(10.1)**

* She’s shown introducing herself to the judges at preliminaries: she’s 19-years-old and from Texas
* She’s shown being invited to finals

**(10.2)**

* At panel interviews, she has a brief conversation with Neal McCoy where she says her dad will be jealous that she got to meet him. She is then asked how she feels this year, after trying out last year. Courtney says she now has a year of professional cheerleading experience (for the Dallas Stars).
* She’s shown being invited to training camp

**(10.4)**

* She gets 66 push-ups in the 2-minute challenge
* She comes in first place in the one-mile run

**(10.5)**

* Makeover glamour shot (before and after): her blonde hair is slightly darkened
* If you pause, you can see a list of the scores she received at auditions: she was ranked #43 and received 5 yeses, 5 maybes, and 6 no’s

**(10.7)**

* She’s one of five TCC’s to attend the Melissa Rycroft session at AT&T Stadium
* Along with Simone, she attends a session led by Loren
* She’s one of six that Judy has repeat the field entrance
* She’s one of three that Judy makes repeat a dance.
* After Kaleigh and Kyndall have been cut in the first two office visits, leaving the squad temporarily at 36, Courtney tells Selina as they wait for their respective office visits that typically, Kelli and Judy warn the first few girls to go into the office and cut the last girls. However, seeing as they already cut the first two to go in, that scares her. She adds that Kelli probably wasn’t bluffing when she said she was going to cut.

## **Misc.**

* She gets minimal focus in the first episode of Season 9, but is invisible afterwards. Her not being invited to training camp is not emphasized.
* Dallas Stars Ice Girl post-training camp