Old School

Here are some of my earliest squads, from waa-aaay back:

Above is the 1995-96 LA Lutheran Jr High basketball squad. They were a ton of fun. In 1993-94 my wife had to coach both junior high and varsity. We thought that was nuts. Our principal agreed, but who could he find to take over junior high cheer? My records showed that I had cheered one season in college, so he dumped it on me. But that's okay, my wife and her squad helped and taught me and my squad.

They decided to call me "Pappa Bear." Amy, the girl with the curly hair on the top left wrote on the back of this picture:

"Mr. Mallory, you're a great coach and there's something about you that makes me try harder on cheerleading. Stay that way and thanks for being kind and always there, Amy" Amy played a pregnant teen on an episode of E.R. I don't know where she is now, but I hope she's a successful actress.Here's the next year, 1995-96. Amy and Leal were back as eighth graders. Notice the partner stunt. It's a simple "back-stand," and no it doesn't look "gay."

Somehow I talked Nyasha into coming out, even though she LOVED playing basketball. She's the tall base in the middle. We were a small enough school that she could cheer at the boys' game and play in the girls' game. She wrote: "Thanx for being a good coach to me. Even when it was easy for me to slack-off, you helped me keep it up. This was the first time I cheered for a school and you made it really fun, Nyasha"

Last I heard she was finishing up at NYU, or was it Columbia? Anyway I think she had been pre-law or pre-med and had great grades. She's been all-state in high school basketball but switched to track & field in college and was thinking about becoming a teacher.

The tiny flier on the far left is Christina. She was quiet as a mouse. She cheered for me in junior high and then cheered for both my wife and them for me again on Varsity. Now she took our place as the varsity coach at Lutheran High. I couldn't be more proud of her. Her squads are bigger and perform more stunts and dances than ours ever did. I don't think LALHS has a Drill Squad, so really their Cheer program does double duty.