Should I wear my hair down or pull it up into a ponytail? How about getting it professionally styled? Can I experiment with another hair color? Straight or curly? Long or short?

Hair is an important part of your appearance. The right hairstyle, cut, and color will allow you to feel like your best, most confident self and portray that to the judges. You don't need to be an expert hair stylist to show up looking like a Pro Cheerleader. Here are our top 3 audition-day hair tips.

MATCH THE HAIRSTYLE OF THE TEAM

Do your research! Is the team you're auditioning for more edgy / urban or more traditional / sophisticated? This will help you determine your hairstyle on audition day.

Remember, you want to show up to your NFL audition looking like you're already part of the team. Wear it half up or let your natural curls fly if the team's vibe is edgier. Most NFL Cheerleading teams do tend to have a more polished look, so if that's the case you may want to consider a more glam hairstyle of sleek and straight or big voluptuous curls.

MATCH YOUR HAIR IN YOUR HEADSHOT

This is SO important as the judges will use your headshot to remember who you are in deliberations and when deciding the final team. It can become very confusing if you have blonde, curly hair in your headshot but you showed up on audition day with straight brown hair.

Decide how you want to wear your hair on audition day, and be sure it's at least similar to your headshot. If you recently got a dramatic haircut, changed your color, or switched up the style, you may need to consider getting a new headshot. HOT TAKE: The more time the judges have to spend remembering who you are, the less time they can spend talking about how amazingly you performed.

LOOK AND FEEL LIKE YOU

All of these tips are guidelines, but what you need to determine is how you can show up confidently and feeling like the best version of yourself. Love that your fiery red hair makes you feel unique? We want to see it. Do your long hair extensions make you feel more like a Pussy Cat Doll? Wear those. Does your sleek bob make you feel like a sassy Posh Spice? Rock it.

PRO TIP: You never truly know what a team is looking for, so the best thing you can do is show up as your most authentic (glam) self. They may ask you if you'd be open to trying a different hair color or cut, which can be fun later down the line.

BE YOUR OWN GLAM SQUAD

If you feel more comfortable leaving your audition-day styling to the pros, we say go for it! It is also not necessary - judges know that dancers don't come into auditions already knowing everything about professional game-day styling, so it's okay to do your best glam attempt.

Just know that no matter who styles your hair in the morning, it will be up to YOU to maintain it throughout the day. Audition day will be full of sweat and #hairography which can slowly derail your polished style. Remember to pack extra bobby pins, all of your styling tools, sprays, brushes, and a mirror. You'll have opportunities to touch up throughout the day, so use those to reset and refresh.

Whatever hairstyle you choose, make sure that you practice dancing with it so that you're aware of how it whips around and if it falls out during the day. This can help you choose the style that easiest to maintain on audition day, and/or dictate the prep and products you use.

Looking for more specifics on styling products and tools recommended by professional glam squad? Check out the GET THE LOOK guide, where you'll find hair styling suggestions as well as audition attire and make up to complete your Pro Cheerleader look.