She first fell in love with the team at 14 after watching Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team with her mother. For Savanna Dastrup, becoming a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader was never a passing childhood wish. One failed audition could have ended that dream, but the Orem High School graduate returned stronger, earned her place and is now preparing to step onto the field in Dallas.
She auditioned for the team in 2025 and made it through training camp. She was cut just one week before the final team was announced.
“I actually auditioned last year, made it through training camp and got cut, like, the week before the team was made,” Dastrup said. “I wasn’t going to stop either,” Dastrup said. “I can’t even believe it still,” Dastrup said. “My mom was like, ‘You should watch Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team with me,’” Dastrup said. From there, I was like, ‘Please, we have to go to a Cowboys game.’” “I don’t think my parents will miss a game,” Dastrup said. “Family, friends, everyoneI’m like, ‘Come on, everybody come to Texas.’” “I hope that girls that get rejected or don’t make the team they want realize there is a bigger picture,” she said. “And just, yeah, don’t give up.”
Then came the setback she had feared. “It was super hard, super devastating. But it really motivated me to come back and work harder. And it meant that much more. “If it wasn’t this year, I was going to audition again. “I’m so used to coming and being like, ‘Am I going to get cut tonight? I think I still am trying to get out of that mindset. Like, Savanna, you made it. “So I watched it and I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do.