Three years ago, Hollister resident Susie Sanchez made national headlines when she made the Oakland Raiderettes cheerleading team — as a 37-year-old grandmother.
Sanchez, who is in the midst of a publicity tour promoting her recently released memoir, “The Dream Lived”, hopes her book will kick start the next chapter — no pun intended — of her life.
“I’m trying to get into motivational speaking,” Sanchez said. “For me, there would be no greater high than empowering people through my story. I never thought I would be a published author by any means, but I felt I had a unique story, one that I wanted to share to the rest of the world.”
For those wondering, Sanchez is not part of the ongoing landmark lawsuit that was filed in January by current and former Raiders cheerleaders, who are claiming wage theft and other unfair unemployment practices.
“I give Lacy credit for being the first cheerleader to file a lawsuit on behalf of NFL cheerleaders,” Sanchez said. “She’s courageous.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Raiderettes are not paid for thrice-weekly practices, nor for the minimum of 10 corporate or charity events they are required to attend each season. They are not reimbursed for travel or other out-of-pocket expenses, and they are fined for a variety of infractions.
It’s no secret the Raiders aren’t exactly the most P.R.-savvy organization around, and that apparently extends to the treatment of their cheerleaders.
Part of the reason why Sanchez, who has three children — Amanda, 20; Nolan, 15; Bobby, 12; and a granddaughter, Grace, 3 — wrote the book was because she felt stifled during her time as a Raiderette.
For example, there were many times when major media outlets would come calling, during which time Sanchez was instructed to call the Raiderettes director immediately.
“I know what I signed up for, and it was a great opportunity,” Sanchez said. “But I felt all of the cheerleaders should’ve been given more of a voice. I felt my identity was a bit stolen that year. In the end, things worked out because I wrote the book.”
And what a story Sanchez has to tell. From the moment she took the stage for her first pre-recital run when she was 8 years old, Sanchez felt a high unlike anything else she had ever experienced.
“I looked out into the audience and there was this feeling, this internal high,” she said. “Instead of being nervous, closed and shy, I realized this was my calling. It was a pivotal moment, knowing what I wanted to do with my life.”
Sanchez dreamed of becoming a Broadway dancer, but after she got pregnant at age 20, those dreams were put on hold.
“At that moment, at age 20, the dream of becoming a New York City Broadway dancer went away,” she said. “But ironically enough, by the time my third child was born, I realized something was calling me back to dancing, something was waking me up to my dream moment. And I acted upon it.”
Did she ever. After 11 years away from dancing, Sanchez, while working out at Gold’s Gym in 2006, thought to herself, ‘Why not try out to be a NFL cheerleader?’ For four straight years, from 2006-09, Sanchez tried out to be a Raiderette, only to be turned away each time.
Undeterred, Sanchez refused to take no for an answer. In 2010, Sanchez earned a spot on the San Jose Wolves dance team, of the now defunct American Indoor Football League. A year later, Sanchez accomplished a lifelong dream: She became an NFL cheerleader.
The fifth time was the charm. The morale of the story, er, book?
“Determination. Never give up,” Sanchez said. “It’s never too late to bring back your dream, even if it’s not ideal. I wasn’t on Broadway, but I had that audience. I danced in front of thousands of people. I heard the word no so many times, but that didn’t stop me. You experience so much growth when you don’t give up on something.”
And no one knows that better than Sanchez.
