While the 2025 fall sports season has come to an end, looking back, the Wilde Lake Cheer Team had an amazing season. This was Coach Linda Lewis’ first season as head varsity coach at Wilde Lake High School. She had an incredible experience and said she loved watching the team grow.
This isn’t the first time Coach Linda has been a coach. She used to be a varsity coach in Montgomery County until she came to Wilde Lake in 2023, when former Coach Emily Townsend presented her with an offer last season. She wanted the challenge of leading at a higher level and helping athletes reach their full potential on and off the mat.
Last year was Coach Linda’s first year as a JV coach, and coaching varsity is a bit different. She said varsity brings a higher level of skill, performance expectations, and a deeper sense of leadership and teamwork. Coach Linda says, “It’s rewarding to see athletes go from JV to varsity and take ownership of their work.”
During Coach Linda’s first season as varsity coach at Wilde Lake, she faced some challenges, including balancing new responsibilities and building team chemistry. Although these were struggles for her, with open communication, trust, and teamwork, she overcame them. Some key moments Coach Linda experienced during the fall season were working on the fall routine, seeing it come together at competition, and most importantly, the squad’s hard work and dedication.
One of Coach Linda’s favorite moments was seeing the team’s excitement when they hit their first clean routine at competition. She said, “Seeing their energy and pride in that moment was unforgettable. It was very good to see the team happy.” Coach Linda is looking forward to next season to continue building the program and developing leadership within the team. Additionally, she wants to raise the bar for performance and spirit by placing in the top three at counties, regionals, and states.
Looking ahead, some objectives that Coach Linda is striving for this winter season are strengthening stunt groups and improving difficulty and technique, including better tumbling and warm-up routines. She also wants to continue fostering a positive and supportive team environment. To keep the team motivated during tough practices, Coach Linda celebrates small wins, sets achievable goals, and reminds athletes how their hard work pays off.
Helping Coach Linda throughout the season was the talented Coach Emily Townsend. Previously, Coach Emily was the varsity head coach for nine years. She is now the assistant coach for varsity. Said she spent nine years pouring her heart into the cheer program as head coach, and she cares deeply about ensuring that athletes maintain or even surpass the level of success they have worked toward over the years.
Coach Emily said this season brought a lot of adjustment for everyone, but overall, they have all grown from the experience. She had to step down as head coach because her oldest daughter started kindergarten this year. Her daughter gets home from school at the same time she needs to leave for practice. Head coaching is a five- to six-day-a-week commitment for high school sports, and cheer is two back-to-back seasons. As a result, she would only see her daughter briefly from August to March. Coach Emily said, “That’s why I love being an assistant coach now because I get to help the team continue to achieve its goals even if I can’t fulfill all of the duties of a head coach anymore.” Some things Coach Emily wants to see next season are the cheer team deepening their bond and approaching each practice with a strong focus on long-term goals, so the winter season can be very successful.
This year, the team also had a new cheer captain, Damya Pittman. Damya has been cheering at Wilde Lake for three years. She said this season was good, everyone had good spirits, connected with each other, and that the team was filled with love. Some struggles Damya faced were her ankles. They would swell and hurt, making it hard for her to tumble. To overcome this, she iced every day at home, and eventually it got better. Another struggle she encountered was helping the team avoid bumping heads, and instead leading with communication and respect. Damya is excited for next season and feels like it’s going to be enjoyable since she is already close with the team. A thing that helped her improve at cheer was talking to the coaches, getting feedback, and putting time into practice outside of cheer.
Some goals that the cheer captains want to accomplish next season are winning counties and advancing to regionals during both the fall and winter seasons. Damya said being a cheer captain was difficult at first because of all the different personalities and learning how to manage them, which really stressed her out. “It was hard at first because of all the different personalities—you can’t deal with all of them the same,” she said. Some challenges Damya faced included irritable moods among some cheerleaders, but she eventually figured out how to handle them. Looking back on the season, every challenge and every victory helped shape the team. Their growth shows just how powerful cheerleading can be, both on and off the mat.