As a child of the ’90s, I can’t help but love cheerleading, thanks to the 2000 movie Bring It On. If you’re like me and still have the Clovers’ cheer stuck in your head, you probably loved binge-watching the Netflix documentary series America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, which featured many memorable and talented dancers, including Caroline Sundvold.
After watching coach Monica and her team on Cheer, we all know how painful and challenging the sport can be, and we want to learn more about Caroline’s life on and off the football field. Everyone wants to know: what happened to Caroline from DCC?
What is Caroline Sundvold from DCC doing today?
According to Women’s Health, Caroline from DCC works at Stryker as an account manager. The company makes medical supplies. As we saw on America’s Sweethearts, the cheerleaders work or go to school while cheering, since the DCC pay, historically, hasn’t been great.
Now that Caroline isn’t a DCC anymore, she seems to be living a regular and happy life, as we can see from her Instagram posts. She travels, goes out for dinner with friends, and generally seems to enjoy being in her late 20s. Caroline also posts often about her sister Anna Kate, who was also in the Netflix documentary series and who made the team as a rookie.
As Caroline shared in the series, it can be traumatic to leave the DCC and enter the so-called real world, mainly because of the tight-knit community cheerleaders. You bond so closely, and then you’re off to create your new life. This is something that the show’s director, Greg Whiteley, touched on in an interview with Glamour UK. Whiteley said, “the goal of becoming a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader requires so much so early in your life that you almost have to engineer your life toward that one goal. It is pretty all consuming.”
Hearing that, we’re glad that Caroline landed on her feet after leaving DCC, but we know she’s had tough times.
Caroline’s DCC history and injuries, explained
Before she had to stop cheering, Caroline Sundvold was picked to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader in 2018, and she kept going until 2023. Like the other women on the Netflix docuseries, she followed her heart and made her dream come true.
Sadly, Caroline hurt herself badly and, according to Women’s Health, had foot and hip surgery. This made it impossible for to keep being a DCC. While she knew that her hip needed to be operated on, she wanted to finish her season. After it was over, she had the operation.
After watching America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, we can’t help but be totally freaked out by the jump split, the famous move that the cheerleaders do during their iconic, famous dance to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” It’s a sad reality that after years of grueling, repetitive movements, Caroline ended up injured.
In a post in the SubReddit DCC Making The Team, many fans of the team expressed their shock that the women still do the jump split as part of their routine. Redditor @MajestyZombie commented, “Former Texas drill team member (90s). I have permanent damage from this in my right knee and hips.” Redditor @AliceCake123 agreed that there’s no reason to include this move and said “They should replace it with something else that is more fun and light hearted where we don’t feel guilty for being the consumer who watches these cheerleaders.”
From watching America’s Sweethearts and Caroline’s Instagram posts, we can tell that she truly loved being part of DCC and wouldn’t trade the experience, even though she had a few injuries. We’re glad she’s doing well now and that she accomplished her dream.
