The Herald featured a story on local Uinta County athletes who participated in the Shrine Bowl in a recent issue, but they are not the only representatives. Evanston had four girls who were on the sidelines as cheerleaders, too, in Shara Beth Aaron, Morgan Crompton, Erin Henderson and Alex Henderson.

The Herald caught up with Aaron and her mother, Sharlyn Aaron, who shared some of their thoughts and experiences.

Sharlyn Aaron told the Herald, 

“Each year, Jobs Daughters from around the state gather for a convention at what is known as the Grand Bethel in June, and the tryouts take place at that time.” 

The younger Aaron recently graduated from Evanston High School and believes her cheerleading days for the Shrine Bowl have come to a close, explaining that the age range is from 14 to 20, for the cheerleaders comprised from the ten Bethels around the Equality State. 

“There were 15 of us this year,” Aaron said, noting representation from Evanston, Casper, Laramie and Rawlins, with perhaps one or two additional Bethel communities having a cheerleader as part of the squad. The total number of cheerleaders will vary from year to year.

Aaron has taken part for a number of years, explaining that tryouts are held each year in June, but that most girls who desire to become Shrine Bowl cheerleaders will have the opportunity to do so. It begins with becoming a Jobs Daughter and girls are eligible at age 10. Cheerleaders must be 14 by the day of the game to take part. The experienced cheerleaders take on leadership roles and select the cheers they will teach to their younger counterparts. 

“It’s not super selective as we pretty much take everyone who tries out,” the younger Aaron shared.

In addition to the practices leading up to the Shrine Bowl, the cheerleaders are also charged with selling advertising for the program and selling the programs themselves, in addition to taking tickets for the Shrine Bowl banquet and setting up and administering a silent auction to help raise funds that, like the game, benefit the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

The cheerleaders share similar experiences with the football players selected for the Shrine Bowl. They have practices, march in the parade on game day and also take part in the visit to the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Salt Lake City with the players. Aaron echoed the sentiment of the players.

“Words can’t describe it,” Aaron said. 

“It’s really amazing to see the kids and how far they’ve come. It’s cool to see all the individualized prosthetics and what it allows the kids to do. It’s just awesome.”

The seasoned cheerleader added, “A lot of the people who work at the hospital say they try to make it not seem like a hospital and I think that’s true. It’s more like a place for the kids to have fun.”

Aaron has found her whole experience with Jobs Daughters to be gratifying and re-warding and encourages young girls who may wish to follow in her footsteps to join the non-denominational Jobies-to-be program to discover if Jobs Daughters may be something they would like to pursue and take part in.