Motivating music blares throughout the gym during nationals week as Angela Rogers, owner of Cheer Athletics in Plano, Texas, coaches her team in preparation for the all star cheerleading world championships.
The stage lights flash onto the floor as the team takes the mat for a tumble and stunt run-through. Rogers is jumping up and down with excitement as she cheers on her team while they make a perfect landing.
“That was a strong and clean hit routine,” she said to her team. “Let’s go to the big screen to watch the full out and critique the video so we can improve.”
She approaches her co-workers to come up with a game plan for the rest of practice because they need to add some choreography to add personality and visual elements to max out the scoresheet in every category.
Photos By: Lexi Goodman
Rogers has been struggling to get her team to be successful with the pressure that came from being on the last season of America’s Got Talent. For the last few months it has been tough to practice due to COVID-19. Due to the complications of running her business as usual and preparing her team for the championships, she pours her heart into her team to build them up for a victory.
She has not been able to get all 24 athletes to practice during the pandemic until recently. It is extremely difficult to get elite level athletes to execute a perfect routine with lots of stamina and strength having to wear a mask that alters their breathing.
She has realized the power of having inspiring co-workers and athletes who have determination and passion for the sport she loves.
Angela Rogers was born in Dallas on Nov. 22 to parents Diana and Jim Rogers. She grew up in Dallas and studied psychology at Southern Methodist University. Rogers has been involved with the sport of cheerleading since she joined the varsity squad in high school, which her mother, a former cheerleader, encouraged her to do. She started out coaching college cheer through the National Cheerleaders Association and did choreography jobs during high school at a local gym in Dallas. Rogers co-owns Cheer Athletics alongside her partners Brad Habermel, 44, and Jody Melton, 52.
“I am honored to say I am the co-founder and co-owner of Cheer Athletics for almost 30 years,” she said. “In high school, I knew I would be empowering other coaches with similar leadership qualities and career passions to dream big in the cheer industry.”
ANgela Rogers
Rogers loves her job and all of the people with whom she has the honor of working with, and she knows she always has to be on her toes to keep the business growing nationwide and making her team successful. Rogers stayed positive while coaching to help her athletes stay healthy and safe during the trying times of the pandemic. Team members must keep their masks on from the start of each event until they are backstage. Then the athletes are allowed to take their masks off for the short performance and put them on as they walk off the stage. During practice, wildcats have hand sanitizer stations and social distancing dots to stand on during water breaks to practice social distancing.
“There are three ways to do things: with acceptance, with enjoyment, or with enthusiasm,” Habermel said. “And Angela exceeds in her positive style of training because nothing great was ever done without enthusiasm.”
Brad Habermel
The team was disappointed that it did not advance past the semi-finals on America’s Got Talent. Rogers chose to look at this as a positive, in that the team would now have more time to practice and prepare for the world championships in Orlando, Florida, in May of 2021.
“The most difficult challenge I have faced being an owner and coach in such a competitive industry, especially during the pandemic, was keeping the passion for this sport alive for the kids,” she said.
Angela Rogers
Due to the struggle to keep the passion alive during a pandemic and the rising number of positive COVID-19 cases, Rogers decided to keep the mask policy at Cheer Athletics even though it is very difficult for athletes to breathe well during hard core practices. Rogers had to hold stamina run-through practices to condition athletes for a routine under a mask. She wanted them to have a perfect performance score, too.
“She is inspiring in general,” said Tucker Hunter, who was coached by Rogers for three years. “At practice or competition, she is always giving it her all and that makes you want to live up to the same effort.”
Tucker Hunter
Rogers’ goal for the program was initially to add one team each year to the gym since 1994, which would mean there should only be 27 teams in total. However, due to a positive and uplifting environment that has tremendous success, the gym has 35 teams at the Plano location alone.
“We started expansion in 2013, and have been growing ever since,” Habermel said. “Wildcats, the team we coach together, is a huge factor to that expansion because everyone wants to be a Wildcat.”
Coaching is more than just winning for Rogers. It is about developing athletes as people, not just what they can do on a blue floor in two minutes and 30 seconds.
“The evolution of Wildcats over the past 25 years means everything to me since I have coached them every single year they have been a team,” she said. “When I see them pushing to be their best, I know the work is worth it.”
angela rogers
Profile Story By: Lexi Goodman
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