GirlStrong Goddess, Seattle Seahawk “Sea Gal” Cheerleader Alumni
I grew up in Seattle and our family watched the Seahawks games since the beginning. When I saw the cheerleaders for the Seahawks I always wanted to try out. My best friend Teri and I said one day we would try out together. As life would have it, we were both busy with full time jobs and college so that dream was put on the back burner. I was 21 and had just had my first son, Dakin, he was 5 months old. I was back to work at Boeing full time and decided I wanted to get back into teaching an aerobics class one or two days a week. The gym that I went to had posted a flyer about Seattle Seahawk “SeaGal” tryouts in one week. I had always wanted to try out but this wasn’t the best timing with my schedule already so full. I went home and told my husband and he was surprised I wanted to try out as I hadn’t ever mentioned it to him, but he was supportive of it. My best friend was traveling so much she couldn’t try out with me.
I was brave enough to go to tryouts by myself – it was intimidating as there were hundreds of contestants and it was a grueling process. I pushed myself to do it and after about a 3-day tryout process where you advance into the finals, I made the team. We were told we were not allowed to miss any games or practices – practice was 2x per week and during the season about 10 home games. That commitment was hard for me given my full time work schedule and having a young son, and I will say I questioned if I was up for it.
I remember my first home game and the nerves I had before going out on the field. It was exciting and
nerve racking. It was the first time I participated in a true team event and the biggest takeaway I had
from it was the life-long friendships I made. I danced for two seasons. After the first year, I opted not to
try out again the following year. I had two more babies, and went back to college to finish my degree in
Communications/Journalism at the University of Washington. I decided to try out one more time in my
final year of college with 3 kids and made it on the team one more time.
I’m part of the SeaGal alumni now which is great and as I mentioned, I have life long friends from this
experience. I still love dancing, and now I dance for my cardio workout instead of the stairmaster
whenever I get a chance. I believe you need to push yourself to try to achieve what you dream of doing.
You can do anything you set your mind to.
I AM GIRLSTRONG.
YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, GIRL! TM