Smackover cheerleading coach glad to be back home, already hard at work
When Smackover's long-time cheer coach Clarice Long retired at the end of last year, the school looked to one of her former students to pick up the program's baton. Mariah Saulsbury, a Smackover native, recently returned to her alma mater as the cheerleading coach.
Saulsbury worked in the El Dorado School District the past two years and was the EHS junior varsity cheer coach last year. She attended Ouachita Baptist University, where she double majored in Biology and
Kinesiology and also cheered four years. She was the captain her junior and senior year.
“I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to teach and coach at my alma mater. From day one, my goal was to teach Biology and coach cheer. I just had no idea it would end up in my lap so quickly,” Saulsbury said. “Taking over the program following Mrs. Long, my high school coach, is something special in itself. Let's just say I have huge shoes to fill. I feel like I learned from the best and I can't wait to instill that into the teams to come.
“Coming back to your hometown where you have had many memories growing up and people that you know, nothing can beat that. I love the Smackover traditions and the family atmosphere that the town brings. I've always been a small-town girl at heart, and I can't express how excited I am for this.”
Saulsbury is a recent hire at Smackover and admitted being hesitant at first at what would appear to be a golden opportunity.
“To be honest, I was kind of leery at the beginning because I will be starting a new job and a new content level,” she said. “I didn't know that this would be for me because the academic side of school seemed a little more pressing to me. It didn't take me long to strategize some things to know that I could make this work and I would make it work. I have put in some time working on my lessons for this coming school year and things are becoming much easier to organize. I'm so glad I dedicated myself to be the best I can in all these positions.”
In addition to a new job, Saulsbury has had to deal with the COVID-19 situation. She's met with her squad and started to get it ready for the upcoming season.
“We have been having a few practices each week. We will be doing our home camp soon and the team is excited about that,” she said. “Things are a lot different because of the restrictions that we have to follow because of COVID-19. In a normal setting, we would have already had camp completed and we would be getting closer to start working towards state competition practices.
“With this experience though, we can do anything by finding the light in the situation. We will always be thrown curve balls, but you have to make the most of each practice, each day, that you can. I have high expectations for this team and that doesn't drop with what they are and aren't allowed to do. If we don't get to compete for state, then we will be the best sideline team that we can be. We will work hard, we will stay strong, and we will stand together.”