By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
As the youth football season kicked off this past weekend, the energy on the field was matched by the spirited voices of cheerleaders who showcased their skills at fields across the region. For many, cheerleading may seem like a sideline spectacle, but for those deeply involved in the world of organized cheer, it’s a transformative experience that builds self-esteem, fosters leadership, and strengthens lifelong bonds among young girls.
ShaVon Robinson, vice president and head cheer coach of the CD Panthers, has seen firsthand how cheer can shape young girls into confident women. Her program is about far more than chants and pom-poms — it’s about building self-esteem, leadership, and creating a lasting sisterhood that goes far beyond the field.
“The majority of my girls have been with me since they were 6 or 7 years old, so that helps with the sisterhood side because they know each other, they go to school with each other, uplift each other, and watch each other’s backs,” said Robinson. “I do try to keep them all in their age groups to create a closer bond between them. I have girls who have aged out of the program come back as junior coaches, and that goes to show the leadership skills that cheer brings, and they are now helping to develop the future.”
Mentorship plays a central role in Robinson’s coaching philosophy. With a team made up predominantly of Black girls, she uses cheer as a vehicle to teach young girls how to be strong while also helping them understand the value of leaning on one another for support.
“The importance behind the mentorship in cheer is for them to be able to lean on another girl or woman to help them with what they need and understand their emotions. This is important because I have a majority of Black girls in my program. I think nowadays with Black women, they tend not to lean on another Black woman for help,” Robinson said. “I want them to understand that, as a community, that is what they should be doing. Know one another to get further ahead and help each other, push each other, and basically learn who they are, and that is why I like to teach the kids about their culture.”
Cathy Sisk Banks, cheer director for the Washington Youth Football League, shares a similar perspective. For her, cheerleading is about community, confidence, and creating a space where young girls feel seen and supported.
“We have a lot of high school girls who once did youth cheer come back and help mentor the younger girls, and it really is a sisterhood,” said Banks. “It is about the camaraderie, the teamwork, the building of self-esteem, and just all-around team building.”
Although the cheer season lasts only a few months each year, Robinson is working to extend that impact. She’s collaborating with a local community member to develop off-season opportunities aimed at equipping girls with real-world skills that go beyond the field.
“I have been working with one of the community members to try and come up with something for the kids to do outside of the season,” said Robinson. “Like experience classes and teaching them things like how to properly do interviews and things like that.”
Robinson also understands that her cheerleaders come from a range of backgrounds, many marked by unique and sometimes difficult challenges. She uses that awareness to be a steady, reliable role model — someone the girls know they can trust and turn to, no matter what they’re facing.
“For me, I am going to be an example of the girls who don’t go to their parents if they have situations going on. Also, if they are having a bad day, and I know something is off, I am going to talk to you and talk to your parents,” said Robinson. “Building not only a community with the kids, but also the parents, and having them know that the parents have somebody else like myself that they can call on is important for me.”
“My kids know that they have somebody else that they can trust me with their secrets, issues, or things like that,” Robinson continued.
Now entering her 20th year in youth cheer, Banks says the full-circle moments — watching former cheerleaders return as coaches or bringing their own children into the program — are what fuel her passion.
“I have been doing this since my child was little, and now she is coaching with me at Franklin. I have had girls who have come back with their kids when they were their age, and it has really been a full-circle moment,” said Banks. “It really is just understanding what it means to be a cheer team, especially in the Pacific Northwest, because we are still kind of separated in a way, so I am just trying to make sure that we have that balance and moments like that.”
