BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A 58-year-old Eagles fan is on a mission to fulfill a lifelong dream and hopefully inspire some people along the way.
Trying out for the Eagles Cheerleaders is a dream four decades in the making for Sherri Hines.
“Life happened and I never pursued dance or cheerleading or anything like that,” said Hines.
The career teacher and EMT bleeds green.
“The best night of my life was the night of the Superbowl. February 4th, 2018, I never cried so much in my life. I’m going to cry now,” she said remembering that night.
While life took Hines down a different path, the years passed but the dream of becoming a cheerleader never did.
“I have a lot of different medical conditions, and I figured this is going to be the best I ever feel for the rest of my life. If I don’t do it now, I’m never going to be able to do it,” she said.
Hines is now on a mission to do something that she owes to herself and maybe inspire some people along the way.
“Just give it a try even if you look like an idiot, just try it. Chalk it off your bucket list. Make it a line on your obituary,” Hines said.
Hines has already inspired one.
“I hope when I’m her age, I still have the strength to be like ‘I want to go for it’,” said her instructor Yangel Yambo Nieves who works at Ely Dance Studio. “Be who you are. I feel like that can get you into any room you want to get into.”
While Hines puts the finishing touches on the routine and gets ready to hit submit on that video, she hopes other people her age take the leap and check something off their bucket list. While she playfully jokes about having zero chance of advancing, Hines has already gained so much.
“Maybe Howie Roseman, once he picks himself up off the floor from laughing so hard, maybe he’ll give a phone call and say thank you for the time, but we have to go on to more talented people,” she laughed.
“Get that Rocky Balboa mentality to it. Never give up,” she said.