The Washington Football Team announced Wednesday it will have a coed dance squad starting next season instead of the traditional all-female cheerleaders.
The team’s cheerleading squad had been part of the franchise for over 50 years, but Washington’s new senior adviser Petra Pope told USA Today the franchise is looking to become more modern and diverse. (RELATED: The Washington Football Team Announces Major News About the Franchise’s Name)
The Washington Football Team will replace its cheerleading team with a coed dance squad next season https://t.co/KQkcnwqH3O
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 3, 2021
“We want to be more inclusive, so we are going to invite a coed entity (to audition),” Pope told the outlet. “We’re able to do more things with the strength of a male, and lifts, so that’s changed a great deal. The inclusivity, strength and interest of choreography has changed.”
Washington Football Team underwent a controversial franchise name and logo change and faced accusations of sexual harassment last summer.
Some of the charges pertained to lewd comments made about the team’s female employees, the Washington Post previously reported. Other changes focused on allegations that franchise employees created inappropriate video content from calendar shoot outtakes.
Pope said the new dance squad would not have any of these photoshoots, saying, “At this point, as we re-imagine what this looks like, that’s not in the plans,” according to USA Today.
“Right now we’re thinking modern, modern franchise. A calendar is not a part of that process,” she told the outlet.