Cheer Coach Earns National Award
Published Monday, June 5th, 2006
By Aimee Chou, Herald staff writer
Kim Mayer has coached hundreds of girls, some flipping high in the air to win West Coast, state and national awards.
But the Hanford High cheer coach says building winning teams takes more than athleticism.
It's about integrity.
"People often ask me, 'How can I be a good cheerleader?' I tell them, 'Just be a good human,' and I'll teach them everything else," said Mayer during a recent practice. "I can't necessarily teach morals and values."
And it's a philosophy that's worked for her. She recently was named National Cheerleading Coach of the Year at the National Cheer Conference in North Carolina.
Mayer was chosen among 229 nominees, judged on her community service, coaching/extracurricular activities and endorsement letters.
After three prior nominations, the coaching award is "a long time coming," said Hanford cheerleader Carly Cooper. At the same conference, Cooper placed 15th in the nation, Rosslyn Luke was 17th and Elizabeth Reyes was 21st.
Two years ago Mayer, 42, declined to be nominated for the top coaching honor so she could focus her energy on helping a student compete for Cheerleader of the Year.
Now that Mayer's earned the national title she'll travel to other cheerleading competitions giving speeches about the sport. Cheer Ltd., the company sponsoring the National Cheer Conference, pays for her travels, including to Georgia and North Carolina.
Her fingernail tips painted Falcon purple, Mayer doubles as Hanford's freshman language arts teacher and freshman class adviser. She stresses academics before athletics, and the squad maintains a 3.4 grade-point average.
"How I do in class reflects how I do as an athlete," said Cooper. "It goes hand in hand."
Hanford's varsity team is a sideline and competitive team, competing five to seven times a year. The cheerleaders decide on a theme and Mayer choreographs it.
"Kim is a role model for high school coaches everywhere," said former varsity cheerleader Rebecca Curry. "(During) car trips she and I discussed everything from boys to friends to troubles in high school and of course, cheer."
Curry became the captain of the University of Washington Cheer Squad in 2003 and 2004, knowing Mayer's coaching "shaped my dedication, perseverance, time management."
Coaching cheerleaders for 17 years has "given me the opportunity to speak at their weddings, be there when they give birth, and hold them when they have lost a loved one," Mayer wrote in her nearly 90-page portfolio submitted for her nomination.
Wistfully regretting that she took a 1982-86 cheer hiatus while studying at Washington State University, Mayer urges high schoolers to pursue their dreams of college cheerleading.
As an eighth-grader in 1978, she became smitten with cheerleading and has since charted its evolution from low-key shoulder stands to increasingly technical, high-flying stunts.
This year, the Hanford High cheer squad won the State 3A Sideline Championships, and finished third at the National Cheerleading Association's U.S. championships.
They missed the state championship by one point.
She has her sights on that title for next year.