Keep on striving: Former Six Rivers cheerleader Gaube now on 49ers Gold Rush

Neil Tarpey
The Times-Standard
07/04/2011

She’s gone from youth football to the National Football League.

Ali Gaube, a graduate of Winship Junior High and Eureka High School, has earned a spot on the San Francisco 49ers Gold Rush, the professional cheerleaders squad.

How did Gaube feel when she learned she had been selected?

”I can’t even describe it. I had so many things going through my mind. I feel very, very lucky,” said Gaube.

Quite a positive accomplishment for a persistent, hard-working 23-year-old college student who once had no friends.

”I moved to Eureka from Washington in the fifth grade and had no friends,” said Gaube. “A lot of the girls were doing cheerleading for Six Rivers Youth Football. I tried it, and I loved it.”

She fondly recalled the fun of traveling with the cheerleading team on their July or August bus trips to cheerleaders’ camps in Davis.

”It was a good way to bond with the team, singing on the bus, and then learning and practicing new routines,” said Gaube.

Gaube credits her Humboldt County cheerleader coaches — Star Blackburn, Teri Leavitt, Brenda Bronson and Teresa Creech, her head coach — for their encouragement during her years as a cheerleader for youth football, middle school, Eureka High School and competitive squads.

She moved away to attend Sacramento State, where she is working on her degree in special education so that she can teach and work with young children.

While she was in Sacramento, Gaube tried out for the cheerleaders team for the Sacramento Cobras, a semi-professional football team. Not only did Gaube earn a spot on the 42-member team, but the other women voted her as their captain.

Then it was on to the Lady Lions, the cheerleading squad for the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League.

While Gaube was a member of the Lady Lions, she had opportunities to volunteer in the community.

For example, she joined four other cheerleaders and several football players and went to the Shriner’s Hospital in Sacramento, where they met with about 30 children on the burn victims unit.

”It was such an emotional experience,” said Gaube. “I feel very blessed.”

Setting her sights on the Gold Rush, Gaube tried out.

She didn’t make it. Two years in a row.

But rather than give up, she listened to the judges’ feedback.

”They told me, ‘Keep going, keep going, we know you can do this at the professional level,’” said Gaube.

She began working harder, not only improving her endurance but also her public speaking skills.

This year she joined the group of 400 women trying out for the 32 spots on the Gold Rush. Even the members of last year’s squad have to try out for this year’s team.

The large group was divided up, and the candidates had to quickly learn a new choreographed dance routine — to Usher’s song “More” — and then, in the preliminary auditions phase, perform that routine with confidence in front of a panel of judges.

At the end of the first day’s preliminary auditions, the group was cut down to 75.

The remaining candidates faced the challenge of arranging time off from school or work in order to participate in a full week of tryouts from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Among the activities were not just learning and performing, in order to demonstrate their dancing abilities and showmanship, but also interviews — to see how each person received feedback — and a final audition.

What was Gaube’s biggest challenge during the week of tryouts?

”I’d say it was exuding confidence,” said Gaube. “Instead of thinking, ‘She’s a better dancer than me,’ I kept telling myself, ‘If they want me, I just have to be myself.’”

Gaube’s hard work and belief in herself paid off. The day after final auditions, she went to the team’s website (www.49ers.com/gold-rush) and saw her photo included with the other 31 team members.

After two years of trying out but not making the Gold Rush, the third time was a charm.

”That’s exactly what I was hoping for,” said Gaube.

The Gold Rush practice one day a week, six hours each session, in order to accommodate the reality that so many of its members commute and attend school or have jobs.

Gaube intends to enjoy her time with the Gold Rush, especially because, “There’s no guarantee that I’ll make it back next year.”

This summer, besides working out with the team and its coaches, Gaube is taking online college courses.

Earning a spot on a NFL cheerleading team, and pursuing her degree from Sac State, has taught Gaube an important lesson.

”If you dream big and keep on striving for what you want, and keep on going, you can get what you want,” said Gaube.