The moment the music starts, Hard Rock Stadium erupts, drums skating, crowd roaring, lights blinding. The kind of adrenaline that would send most people straight into a blackout. But for freshman Brooke Walsh, it’s where everything clicks into place.
“You look up and see thousands of people cheering,” Walsh said. “It’s one of the best feelings ever.”
Walsh is a journalism major from Chicago and one of eight newcomers on the 23-member Sunsations team this season. She has been dancing since she was three years old, but college-level performance brought an entirely new routine.
“Sometimes it’s hard to balance everything,” Walsh said. “But I try to find pockets of time for myself, put away my phone and stay focused on school. Dance is when I get to let loose.”
Her weekly schedule is intense: lifting sessions at 6 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, practices from 6:45 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. three nights a week and full-day game days every Saturday.
With the Universal Dance Association national championships approaching in January, the Sunsations have added long Sunday practices to clean up choreography for their jazz and hip-hop routines.
“We’re not under the NCAA, so we don’t have limited hours,” Walsh said. “People don’t always realize how much work we put in, we’re athletes too.”
Game days start long before kickoff. If the game is at 7 p.m., Walsh and her teammates are on the bus by 2:15. They start getting ready around noon, warm up, mark routines on the field, eat Chick-fil-A in the Dolphins’ cheer room, take photos and then join the band and cheer team for Hurricane Walk.
With so much time spent practicing, traveling and performing together, the team formed a close bond.
“I felt accepted really fast,” Walsh said. “We spend so much time together, it’s like an instant bond. Even as a rookie, I never felt out of place.”
She credits head coach Jonni Rodgers for building a culture where dancers feel supported, not just pushed.
“She’s unlike any coach I’ve ever had,” Walsh said. “She’s both a coach and a friend. I can tell her anything. It makes me feel more connected to the team.”
Homecoming Week brings a special kind of excitement. Alumni dancers return to perform alongside the Sunsations, sharing the sidelines and the ’Canespride.
“It’s such a full circle moment,” Walsh said. “You realize how much being a Sunsation means to people.”
Her proudest moment so far came at the Notre Dame game when ESPN College GameDay featured the team.
“Seeing myself on TV was crazy,” Walsh said. “People were texting me and I was like, ‘Wow, this is real.’”
Walsh hopes to continue dancing beyond college — and maybe on an NFL cheer team like the Miami Dolphins, where many of her coach’s connections could open doors.
Still, Walsh remains grounded in the present, balancing her journalism studies, dance commitments and the joy of performing for her school.
“I’m just so grateful,” Walsh said. “Being here, doing what I love — it’s everything I hoped for.”
For Walsh, every eight-count and each step onto the field, is proof that passion and perseverance can coexist.
“When I’m out there,” Walsh said, “I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”