"I grew up in Jasper, Indiana," says Colts rookie cheerleader Mallory H. "It's about two hours away. It's a really good community. I've had a lot of support from my community in my journey to becoming a Colts cheerleader."

It's a journey that started for her early on. 

"I started dancing probably around three. I took the ballet classes and the tap classes and jazz and hip-hop and all of those different areas of dance. I pretty much did dance until maybe middle school age and then I started doing cheerleading, so I have a cheerleading background as well."

She danced and cheered her way through high school and says that's where she developed a passion for dancing on a team.

It was also where a seed was planted.

"My dance team coaches, they told me in high school, 'Mallory, I could see you being a Colts cheerleader. That's something you should go after.' Back then, I didn't really think about it much, but then once I got to college, I started thinking about it more seriously."

Especially because she wasn't dancing in college.

"I felt like there was something missing," she says. "That team aspect, being able to bond with your teammates, grow together, work towards perfecting routines, that's something that you just can't find in a cardio dance class."

But she did find it in a cheer clinic.

"I can't even describe the feeling I felt when I came back from my first dance clinic with the Colts Cheerleaders because it felt like things were right again and I felt like my dance passion was back. It was coming alive. Not that I ever lost it, but just the aspect of being on the team and being in that atmosphere with other girls who are also passionate about it was so inspiring."

Her favorite part of being a Colts Cheerleader so far?

"This might sound cliché, but inspiring others to follow their dreams kind of the way I have. I like that this role gives me the ability to tell others to believe in themselves and set big goals and go after big dreams because if you work hard towards it, you can really achieve anything."

Mallory is now planting seeds in others like the one that was planted in her.

"That's one of my favorite parts, is getting to interact with the community and with kids and just seeing the look in their eyes when I hand them my pompoms to hold and they can shake them for a while and their eyes just light up. And you can see in their minds they're thinking, 'Hey, I might be able to be a cheerleader one day.'"

And she'll be the first to tell them to chase that dream.

After all, that's how hers began years ago.