Orange Barber’s Daughters are NFL Cheerleaders
By Daniel Langhorne
Orange County Register
Those visiting Roy Freitas for a haircut at his old-school barbershop in Old Towne Orange can spot a calendar of the Sea Gals, the Cheerleaders for the Seattle Seahawks, hanging on the wall behind his line of red-leather barber chairs.
This is a prized treasure for Freitas. It’s signed by his daughter, Krystal Freitas, who has cheered for the team for two years. When prompted, Freitas proudly boasts she is not the only NFL Cheerleader in the family. Her older sister, Jessica Freitas, is a member of the Flight Crew, which cheers for the New York Jets.
Roy Freitas holds a photograph of his two daughters, Krystal and Jessica, both cheerleaders for the NFL.
Both were born and grew up in Orange. They attended Orange Lutheran High and took very different paths to the NFL, each following their love of dance.
“It really puts us on the same level, and we completely understand each other,” Krystal Freitas said.
Krystal Freitas tried out for the Sea Gals with 300 other women and made the cut after a grueling series of auditions. Making the cut once doesn’t guarantee a spot the next year – veterans have to try out every April.
“It’s pretty stressful, because you have a great thing and you had that experience, (and) you don’t want to let that go,” she said.
The idea of trying out for an NFL cheer squad didn’t come to Jessica Freitas – professionally trained as a ballerina – until her sister had been with the Seahawks for a year. She had cheered for professional teams before and decided to give it another go. As a ballerina, Jessica Freitas performed for audiences in major theater houses but said there is no comparison to performing in front of tens of thousands.
“Being on the field at MetLife Stadium is a whole other ball game,” she said. “When you’re standing there representing the NFL, it’s a really cool feeling.”
The tight uniform tops that NFL cheerleaders wear might be tough for some dads. But Roy Freitas said he doesn’t worry.
“I’m still a dad,” he said. “Onstage, I don’t look at them as my daughters anymore, they’re cheerleaders.”
