There was no way I was going to be less than a full bird. When my husband joined the Stanwood Eagles two decades ago, the women asked if I wanted to become a member of the club’s auxiliary, called the Eaglettes.
I reacted the same way an eagle might after snaring and chewing a foul-tasting mouse.
Yuck.
I say women shouldn’t be relegated to what sounds like subpar status. I couldn’t be a full Eagle, so I enjoyed $2 well drinks and steak dinner nights as a guest of my spouse. I think Lady Elk and Women of the Moose are less offensive, but I’ll never carry a membership card.
If I join something, it will be Mensa International.
This week I received notice that the Everett Hawks Dance Team, which supports our new National Indoor Football League team, had created a kid cheer program. My husband and I can’t wait to see the Hawks play, because star Travis Salter went to Lynnwood High with my kids.
Love the Hawks. Wish the dance team wasn’t nicknamed the Hawkettes. Really wish the little girls weren’t called Chicklettes.
Why not name them the Everett Hawks Junior Dance Team? I don’t know any ladies who want to be named after chickens. We are women, hear me roar – ladies and females, not dames, babes, broads or types of cats.
And our daughters should not be called Chicklettes.
As a young mother, I opposed the notion of cheerleading. When my son played Pop Warner football, other mothers put little sequined skirts on the boys’ sisters and lined them up to scream “Defense” while shaking their little booties.
Not my daughter. I told her she would be on the field at sporting events, never beside it rooting for boys. As longtime readers will recall, she got a full ride to a Texas university to run cross country and track.
Mother is always right. My kids played on the same co-ed soccer team when they were ages 5 and 6, and both took tap dancing.
For those who want to encourage the Chicklette program, visit everetthawks.com for a registration form for ages 6 to 16. Cost is $50 and includes a Hawks T-shirt and an autographed picture of the 2005 Chicklettes and Hawkettes.
The new kid cheer program appears to be popular. Ronda Thomas, president of Galaxy Cheer Inc. in Redmond, the Everett Hawks cheer director, said she has received hundreds of inquiries.
Leslie Ruppert, Everett Hawks cheer captain, said the girls are named Chicklettes not after a demeaning term for women but after the common name of a baby hawk, which is a chick.
It was not meant to offend anyone, Ruppert said. It’s simply a cute play on words to mimic the Hawkettes.
“We take great pride in our program, and look to dispel myths and common misconceptions about cheerleaders as well,” Ruppert said.
She said Thomas gets “daily e-mails from parents, fans and potential ladies for next year’s squad, saying how much they enjoy watching us dance and how little girls are so excited to stand next to us in the stands and yell, ‘Go Hawks!’ “
I still say steer little girls toward being on the team, not on the sidelines.
Before cheerleaders shove pompoms up my nose, I found total respect for their work when my son was a high school senior on the football team. The all-female cheer squad decorated his locker each week, sang songs in my front yard and kept him in Tootsie Rolls the entire season.
I stood back and saw how hard high school cheerleaders work. And they were physically fit. Nothing wrong with tumbling and getting defined calves from jumping up and down.
Organizers say 50 Chicklettes will cheer at a Hawks game June 17, attend three clinics and learn about teamwork, performance basics and self-esteem. I prefer little girls learn about teamwork and self-esteem wearing a jersey with a number, not blush on their cheeks.
Gee, my feathers are ruffled today, but that doesn’t make me a bird.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com
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