“Cheer isn’t a sport,” “Guys don’t cheer,” “Cheerleading is so easy.” After all, Mr. Johnson, or as his athletes call him, Coach Collin, proved this stereotype wrong. Resource teacher Mr. Johnson has been cheering since he was in high school, so he knows a little bit about the cheer world. Ever since he set foot on a cheer mat, he knew it was meant to be. 

“One of my friends actually just asked me if I wanted to throw her in the air and catch her feet and I said, ‘Sure, why not,’” Johnson recalled. “At that point, I just think it clicked for me.” 

Johnson cheered for Timberland High School, junior year through senior year. He then went on to cheer at Iowa Western Community College for two years and then Morehead State for his last two, all at which he won multiple competitions. 

“I think a real cheerleader is someone who is a student-athlete whose main goal is to provide a welcoming gameday atmosphere and to get the crowd/student section involved and hyped up when cheering on any sport they attend,” Johnson described.

Throughout his cheerleading career, he explored many different things he could do that he couldn’t do before. He learned how to use his loud voice to get the crowd’s attention easily, how to properly stunt (throw girls in the air), and it even helped him become more outgoing for the future. 

“Competing was definitely my favorite part of cheer because I just loved going out there and showing the best routine to the judges and other cheerleaders watching,” Mr. Johnson said. “It’s just an awesome feeling.”  

When he first started at Liberty, he coached the JV cheer team for about a year, then moved onto coaching the varsity cheer team for three years and counting. “My favorite part of coaching is watching the team grow as a whole throughout the season and watching them motivate each other to become better athletes,” Johnson said. “I love the camaraderie and connections they have with each other.” 

Johnson started coaching because his old coach at Iowa Western, Jeff Snow, influenced him to coach and spread the happiness he has for cheer to others. Ever since Johnson started coaching the varsity competition team, he and his team have accomplished many things. They have won three regional championships, won one state title and have competed at the national level in Disney World last year and are competing again this year.

With his background in cheer – and blood, sweat and tears created from cheer – Johnson understands the struggles we’ve had to go through and the successes that we have made. Although many people may not have known that their own resource teacher was a world champion cheerleader, it seems pretty cool to know now, right?