Former Santa Paulan Erica Arana now a Raiderette

May 05, 2004
Santa Paula News
By Suzi Skutley Santa Paula TimesFormer Santa Paulan Erica Arana fulfilled a dream April 18th when she was selected to represent the Oakland Raiderettes for the 2004 season. Erica is the daughter of Virginia Arana of Santa Paula.A 1995 graduate of Fillmore High School, Erica was a high school and college track and field star. While in college she placed in the top three in the heptathlon for the state of California. She also competed in soccer and was a top scorer in the Ventura County League for several years, competing in national soccer tournaments.Erica moved to Santa Paula when she was 19. Two years ago she moved to San Francisco to pursue her dream of becoming a Raiderette. She first tried out in 2003 and made it to the finals, but was not selected. She did well in the interview process, but had never taken dance, a staple of the Raiderette program. The first tryout “was a learning experience for me,” said Erica. “I did my homework, taking dance classes three nights a week.”Being selected this year was “one of my proudest moments ever.” Erica considers this the hardest thing she ever had to do, to compete in front of judges and “pull it off.” She is one of only two bilingual Raiderettes, and is proud to represent the Latino community.
Erica’s duties as a Raiderette include “lots of promotional events” where the group is hired to come out and speak. They coach the Junior Raiderettes (girls ages 7-14) at a mini camp, and do many types of community service. One of Erica’s first duties will be joining the Raiderettes in Hawaii May 18th for a week working on their annual swimsuit calendar.Besides being a Raiderette, Erica works full time as an office manager/payroll administrator for Clovis Solutions in the San Francisco area.



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