P-R-O: Seattle Sea Gals Battle The Elements

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Amanda is a three-year veteran of the Sea Gals, and before that she cheered for the Houston Texans for a season. She graduated with honors from Loyola University New Orleans earning her BA in Journalism in just three years.

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Miranda is a another three-year veteran of the Sea Gals. She ‘s a Project Management Consultant with a BSE in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Cheering in Seattle is a lot different than cheering in Houston’s climate-controlled Reliant Stadium. Last season the Sea Gals had to wear their holiday uniforms in the middle of a freak snow storm. Amanda says she couldn’t feel her toes after that performance.

And a couple of years ago, the Sea Gals had to perform in the traditional two piece “white uniform” for a Veteran’s Day tribute during a November night game with the temperature hovering around 30° F.

[Sea Gals at P-R-O]

[Seattle Sea Gals]

Gillan Becomes a Sea Gal

By Nadia Fernandez
Pacific Daily News

When the Seattle Seahawks open their 2009 NFL season at Qwest Field against the St. Louis Rams on Sept. 13, there may be some Chamorros in the stands but there will only be one on the field.

Pia Gillan recently earned a spot on the Sea Gals, a professional dance team that performs at Seahawks football games. The former Nimitz Hill resident made the team on May 3 after a weeklong process of three rounds of cuts and personal interviews. When Gillan made the team, she was shocked.

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“It was pretty intimidating at first,” the 22-year-old said, via telephone from Seattle. “We were just numbers … when they called out my number, I didn’t know it was me. I had to look down at my number.”
Confidence, energy

Gillan made the 28-woman Sea Gal squad out of about 200 hopefuls. Sea Gal director Sherri Thompson said that Gillan will gain more confidence and energy from being a Sea Gal.

“She’s a good dancer, very pleasant and confident,” Thompson said, via telephone from Renton, Wash. “She is a very beautiful girl.”

Gillan practices with the Sea Gals at 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton. Aside from cheering for the Seahawks, the Sea Gals also make appearances.

When asked what advice she would give to other dance hopefuls, Gillan advised them to not be scared and to have fun with it.

“Everyone has a chance,” she said. “I didn’t know that I was going to make it, but I did.”

Aside from being a Sea Gal, Gillan also graduated from Seattle University on Sunday. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice and forensic science. Gillan said that she plans to go back to graduate school or to attend law school in the future.

Gillan also danced for the Seattle University Dance Team for her junior and senior years. Prior to that, she practiced with the school’s rugby club.
Determination

In Guam, Gillan danced with the SKIP Entertainment Company for seven years. Michelle Esperon, who is now a manager of SKIP, danced with Gillan for about five to six years.

“She’s really good,” Esperon said. “She was always determined to get everything done.”

Gillan was part of the team when they won the Overall Dance Championship at the International Grand Prix Festival in Cesena, Italy, in June 2002. The competition included dancers representing 23 countries from five continents, according to SKIP’s Web site.

The 2005 Academy of Our Lady of Guam graduate quit dancing with SKIP to try playing sports in high school. She played rugby and soccer for Cougars during her junior and senior years.

While she was a senior in 2005, she traveled with the Para Todu Rugby Club for the Go Industry Henry Butcher National Rugby Tournament in Manila, Philippines. She helped the women’s rugby club win the tournament.

The daughter of Lisa Sablan and Todd Gillan said she plans to visit Guam next summer.

“I really miss home,” Pia Gillan said. “There will never be a place like Guam.”

[Seattle Sea Gals]

Sea Gals at Tuxes & Tails

The Seattle Humane Society’s 20th Annual Tuxes & Tails event took place in early May, and raised about $600,000 to benefit Seattle Humane Society animals. The evening included a 4-course dinner, as well as live and silent auctions. As always, the highlight of the evening was the Celebrity & Pet Fashion Show, which featured local personalities walking the catwalk with their own pet or with one of the shelter’s adoptable dogs. The Sea Gals participate every year, and this time around, veterans Miranda, Nicole, Gena, and Jessica, hit the runway with some of their furry four-legged friends. (photos)

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© Kevin Wrenn Photography, 2009 – KevinWrenn.com

From W.F. West Cheerleading to a Sea Gal

On the Seahawks Sidelines: Local Woman Earns Spot on Professional Football Cheer Squad

By Andy Campbell
The Chronicle Online

When Heather Livingston auditioned to be a Husky cheerleader right out of high school in 2005, no one expected she’d make it on the first try.

The W.F. West graduate made the team, graduating from the university with her bachelor of arts degree in sociology last year.

When she auditioned early this month to become a Sea Gal, a professional cheerleader with the Seahawks, no one, not even her, thought she’d make it on the first try.

Think again.
Now 23, Livingston was chosen out of about 260 hopefuls to become one of the 28 women who had inspired her throughout her dancing and cheering career.

“I learned about it online and I thought, you know what? I’m gonna give it a shot,” Livingston said. “I’ve got nothing to lose.”

Currently located in Snoqualmie, she works as a substitute elementary school teacher and plans to get her Masters degree in education through the University of Washington.


Heather, now 23, poses as a cheerleader for the W.F. West squad she used to cheer on. She was accepted to work as a Sea Gal, a Seahawks Professional Cheerleader, in early May. After high school she went on to cheer at the University of Washington.

It’s going to be a tough schedule this summer, she said, because being a Sea Gal is not all dancing and smiling. It’s hard work.

She’ll practice at night two or three times a week, memorize moves and choreography and take part in some 300 community events throughout the 2009 football season.

“There’s a lot expected out of these girls; it’s fun but it’s a huge commitment and it’s not easy,” said Sherri Thompson, former Sea Gal and current coach. “That said, it’s a very rewarding and mature, professional environment.”

Thompson agreed that being accepted as a Sea Gal could be comparable to being accepted as a Seahawk, but in the cheerleading world and without a celebrity’s pay.

She said Livingston is a great athlete, is well spoken, well educated and a good dancer. While there may be some things to work on like anyone else, more training will fix that, Thompson said.

Livingston’s mom, Colleen Frazier, said she was excited for and proud of her daughter for the accomplishment. Frazier was a cheer instructor at W.F. West for eight years until she and her family moved to Snoqualmie in 2005.

She said she thinks her daughter will probably go on to become a coach herself.

“It’s an extremely rewarding profession when you work both in and out of the classroom with kids,” Frazier said. “She’s had a passion for dancing since she could walk. She’s always been an entertainer.”

Livingston said she always looked up to the women on the Sea Gals, for their intelligence, community involvement and talent.

“In this program they’re all very classy girls,” Livingston said. “Some of them are lawyers, teachers … They all have a lot going for them and the community looks up to them.”

She said she’ll definitely be trying out again next year.

Making the Cut

Roughly 260 women auditioned in early May for one of the 28 paid positions available on the team.

Thompson said there are a couple of steps she and judges will take to file down the numbers:

First, the girls bring in their applications and a head shot, then are put into groups of three to dance. Their general style is scrutinized, and half of them are cut.

Second, they’re taught a dance that they have one day to practice. They’re cut in half again, when this year’s number would have been at about 65.

Then there is an interview process. Judges are left with about 40 girls and last year’s veterans, who automatically make the final round. These women answer questions on camera and dance to a final choreography before the final 28 are chosen.

Livingston said the main components to a good Sea Gal audition are showmanship and performance, general ability, good interviews and a clean lifestyle.

Obviously there is going to be a certain physical expectation that the Sea Gals must follow — they must stay fit, work out, and hold their set weight within about a three-pound window.

Since Livingston looked up to these women when she was a small child dancing her heart out, she had some advice for those little girls who will now undoubtedly look up to her.

“I would say, just stick with it. Keep active in dancing, and never, ever give up,” she said. “Even if you think you can’t do it like I did, just give it a shot. Also, stay active in your community throughout your life and be a positive role model.”

When it came to becoming a cheerleader — or any other career path or dream, for that matter — Heather Livingston couldn’t be told no. One mustn’t tell themselves no, either, or they’ll miss out on opportunities like these, she said.

[Seattle Sea Gals]

Redhawk Becomes Sea Gal

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By Katie Farden
The SU Spectator
5/27/09

With four wins and 12 losses last season, the Seattle Seahawks ended 2008 leaving most of their fans with dim hopes for next year. Seattle U students and alumni still have cause to head down to Qwest Field, however, even if it is only for the half-time show.

Senior criminal justice and forensic psychology major Pia Gillan recently earned a spot on the Sea Gals, a professional dance team that performs at Seahawks football games.

When Gillan first found out she made the team, she was in disbelief.

“You have to wait for an hour to find out, and that’s the worst part,” she said. “When they first called my number I was in shock, I had to double check to make sure it was me.”

Gillan has been a member of Seattle U’s dance squad, SU Dance Team, for the past two years. Her dance coach, Kate Kelly, wasn’t surprised with Gillian’s success at the Sea Gals tryout.

“She is one of the best performers I have ever coached,” Kelly said. “She just has that air about her.”

Performing in front of a large audience is one aspect of her new job Gillan says she is most excited to take on.

“I’m really excited just to be in the stadium interacting with the crowd,” said Gillan who was born and raised in Guam and danced competitively in high school for Skip Entertainment Studio. Before dancing on the SU Dance Team, Gillan spent her freshman and sophomore year playing rugby for Seattle U.

“Rugby was a lot of fun, especially because we played it a lot in Guam,” she said. “But I really missed dancing. It’s not that I didn’t like rugby, but I do wish I had tried out for the dance team earlier.”

The most unforgettable moment of her two years on Seattle U’s dance squad, she said, was her initial audition.

“I had never really auditioned before, and I was nervous choreographing my own dance,” she said of her 2007 tryout. “But I got through it.”

Gillan auditioned for the Sea Gals in late April at Qwest Field. The try outs, which held three rounds of cuts and personal interviews, proved to be far more overwhelming than the Seattle U dance team auditions.

“At the SU audition, there are about eight girls there, and everyone knows your name,” she said. “At the Sea Gals audition, there were over 200. You’re just a number.”

Gillan’s number, however, drew the coaches’ attention. She was selected along with 27 other women for the 2009 Sea Gal’s roster.

“My mom called everyone she knew. And my family keeps checking the [Sea Gals] Web site,” she said with a laugh.

The Sea Gals practice every Tuesday and Thursday at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash.

“Practices start at 6:30 p.m., and they don’t give you an end time because you don’t know when it will get over,” Gillan said.

She said while it’s often challenging, she works to strike a balance between school and her new job as a Sea Gal.

“It’s pretty stressful,” said Gillan, who also works 15 hours a week at Super Copy. “I just seriously have to time-manage.”

Still, the Sea Gal practices, which usually run for about two and a half hours, offer her time to unwind.

“I look forward to those practices because it’s a chance to put school behind me.”

Although Gillan is now a professional dancer, her former coach said she still retains her humility.

“She is probably one of the most down to earth people I know,” said Kelly. “She definitely deserves this.”

The Best Convention in Professional Cheerleading

All-Pro3 Inc, the company that produces the P-R-O Convention is excited to announce the All-Star line up of guest instructors for their 2009 Convention. Professional Cheerleaders and Dancers from all over the world travel to Atlanta to learn choreography from these instructors every year.

“We always like to add some fresh, new instructors each year to teach alongside our fabulous veteran choreographers” says Tracy Rutledge of All-Pro3. “Raquel Torres-Garcia will be joining us from the San Antonio Spurs, and Ken Martin from USA Pro Cheerleaders will also teach for us for the first time.”


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Rutledge boasts “We pride ourselves in showcasing actual Directors, Managers, and Choreographers who actively run pro teams. Their choreography is always usable and fan friendly, exactly what professional cheerleaders and dancers are looking to learn.”

P-R-O Instructors for 2009:

Tami Krause-NFL Minnesota Vikings & NLL Minnesota Swarm
Sandy Charboneau-NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Raquel Torres-Garcia-NBA San Antonio Spurs
Alto Gary-NFL Houston Texans
Tamara Jenkins-MLS FC Dallas
Stacie Kinder-NFL Tennessee Titans
Ken Martin-USA Pro Cheerleaders
Brandii McCoy-NBA Charlotte Bobcats & ECHL Charlotte Checkers
Stephanie Jojokian-NFL Washington Redskins
Marla Viturello-AFL Philadelphia Soul & Philadelphia Pro Dancers
Shannon Kingsley-NFL Seattle Seahawks

Rutledge adds that “Our Convention continues to grow each year. Our sponsors such as the Line Up, Peavey hosiery, Satin Stitches, and Tech.Nitions, help make our event even more extraordinary each summer!”

The popular “Sideline Distraction Magazine” is a huge hit at the Convention. It features ‘Sideline Hotties’ from various teams and leagues in Professional Cheerleading. Last year, the coveted cover spot went to Crystal, from the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning Girls…who will it be this year? You’ll have to attend the P-R-O Convention to find out!

For more information and to register, visit www.allpro3.com or email allpro3@mac.com

Check out some galleries from last year’s convention.

Sea Gals Retro Video

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Seahawks.com cracked open the vault to share with us this video of the Sea Gals show group, circa 1990. This is a must-see. It’s a high-energy performance to such hits as “Can’t Touch This,” “Rhythm Nation,” “Mony Mony,” as well as tunes from “A Chorus Line” and a patriotic medley. I’m talking bike shorts, the running man, a baton twirler, old school bulls-eye poms, and paper-bag waisted jeans. They even did a pyramid and some tumbling. And through it all there not one belly button in sight. Boy howdy, times have changed. Click here to watch!

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