A double Sea-Gal legacy

[Sidebar: if anyone has any “back in the day” photos of Dawn, Heather, or Leslie, please let me know so I can update our “family” page. xoxo sasha]

Generation Next: The Seahawks have reached another milestone this season as rookie Sea Gals Taylor and Kylie are the daughters of former members of the team’s dance team.
Clare Farnsworth
Seahawks.com
September 4, 2014

As Heather Moyer and Dawn Cook sat side by side in the stands at CenturyLink Field for the Seahawks’ preseason opener on a picture postcard of a Friday evening, they were oblivious to everything going on around them. That’s because they were transfixed on two members of the Sea Gals.

But it was understandable, since the objects of their absorption were daughters Taylor and Kaylie.

And Taylor and Kaylie aren’t just any Sea Gals, they’re Generation Next members of the Seahawks’ dance team – the first-ever daughters of former members of the Seahawks’ dance team to make the squad. That’s right, Taylor is the daughter of Heather and her husband, Paul, who was a safety for the Seahawks from 1983-89, coached for the team from 1990-94 and now services as a member of the pre- and post-game show for Seahawks games on 710 ESPN. And Kylie is Dawn’s daughter.

Dawn, Kylie, Taylor, and Heather

Dawn was a Sea Gal from 1981-89, while Heather became a member of the squad in 1985. So they were more than just casual observers as their daughters – rookie Sea Gals – dashed through their routines.

“I was just so excited for her,” Dawn said. “I sent her an email and said, ‘Enjoy this moment. It’s going to be amazing. Something you’re always going to remember.’ ”

Little did Dawn know that her email also applied to her and Heather.

“It’s almost a fairytale, it really is,” Heather said. “We were giggling in the stands just watching them out there dancing.”

They haven’t seen anything yet, however, because Thursday night daughters Taylor and Kylie also will be dancing with the Sea Gals when the Super Bowl champion Seahawks kick off the 2014 NFL regular season by hosting the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink Field.

How do the Generation Next Sea Gals view dancing into franchise history?

“I think it’s so surreal,” said Taylor, whose aunt, Leslie, also was a member of the Sea Gals. “But I also think it’s fantastic.”

While Taylor has an all-in-the-family connection to all things Seahawks and Sea Gals, her interest in becoming a Sea Gal was really ignited during her stint as a Junior Sea Gal.

“I grew up dancing my entire life,” said Taylor, who was a cheerleader at Bellevue High School and then went to Boise State. “I did Junior Sea Gals and subconsciously I just knew I wanted to be a Sea Gal. But I was kind of afraid to tryout, so I went away to college. Then this last year, I knew I really wanted it.”

Kylie, who also was a Junior Sea Gal, saw herself being a real Sea Gal before she actually became one.

“It was something that I had wanted to do for a long time, so I kind of already had pictured it in my head,” said Kylie, who went to Bonney Lake High School and Pierce College. “But I feel really honored. This is a first-time thing, so I feel like we’re almost a part of team history with it.”

It’s not just a feeling, it’s fact. There never will be the first Generation Next Sea Gals again. Kylie and Taylor have gone where no daughters of former Sea Gals ever have, and anyone that follows will be treading in their boot steps.

They never witnessed their mothers as Sea Gals, because they weren’t born yet, but they have seen video of them back in the day when the Seahawks played – and Sea Gals performed – in the Kingdome.

And now that they are the first to be the first, what was the initial reaction?

“I had been to Seahawks games before, so it was what I expected,” Kylie said. “But it was better than I expected, too, because it’s so different being down on the field instead of being a little nugget in the stands.”