In basketball, they call the fans the “sixth man,” but what does it mean to be the Sixth Woman?
We’re headed to a big game today against Florida State, and as always, I’ll cheer and sing and dance along. But as the self-declared Queen of Hope, I’ve decided my job is bigger than that.
Cheerleaders lift the mood. Coaches teach strategy. Players execute the plan.
But the Sixth Woman?
She shapes the atmosphere. She doesn’t take the shot. She doesn’t draw up the play. She doesn’t control the scoreboard.
She influences the environment.
And the environment we create for the players, the coaches, even the cheerleaders and the band, matters. We have a responsibility to create an atmosphere that supports their efforts.
Anyone who has played a sport knows this: the energy in the room can either constrict capacity or expand it. Groaning from the stands tightens things. Criticism after a missed shot shrinks things. Anxious noise spreads fast.
But steady belief? Clear-eyed, action-oriented hope? Staying with a team and believing in their potential, no matter what the scoreboard is saying at any given moment?
That keeps possibility in the room. And that, to me, is encouragement.
Cheerleading lifts the mood, but encouragement builds courage. Cheerleading fuels the moment, but encouragement fuels the long game. Encouragement strengthens capacity. Encouragement creates the conditions where courage can grow.
In the work I’m building through ChangemakerYOU, I’ve come to see encouragement not as vague positivity, but as a practice I carry with me everywhere I go.
It looks like holistic awareness = seeing the whole person, not just their last performance.
It begins with courageous questions = the kind that invite growth instead of shame.
It requires generous listening = making space to understand instead of rushing to fix things.
It is upheld by mindful storykeeping = remembering the moments and reflecting them back in ways that reveal a young person’s greatest strengths.
Encouragement doesn’t remove pressure. It strengthens support. It doesn’t guarantee a specific outcome. It makes continuous growth and learning possible.
That’s why sport is more than entertainment. It’s rehearsal. It’s a practice field for courage when you need it most.
Whether we are the ones taking the shots or not, we are the ones creating the potential for courage — and sometimes even miracles.
***En-courage-ment = creating the conditions for courage to grow.***
This is the role of the sixth man or woman.
The fans, alumni, faculty, family members, neighbors, and friends. Those of us who are not taking the shot this time.
We can be the Sixth Men and Women in someone else’s arena.
We can’t live their lives for them. But we can shape the atmosphere they grow in. We can create the conditions for courage to germinate.
That’s the heart of ChangemakerYOU. It’s a growing movement of women practicing encouragement in ways that strengthen the next generation’s courage and voice.
Today, I will cheer my Hokies. But I’ll also be practicing something that doesn’t have to make much noise at all.
I’ll be doing my part to keep the room alive.
Let’s go, Hokies!
Let’s go, HOPIES!
We’ve got a job to do.
