New cheer coach at PC wants girls to set goals
Torri Jacobs took over as Parkers Chapel’s senior varsity and junior high cheer coach during the month of April. The El Dorado graduate might be new to the job, but she has years of experience in the sport.
“I have coached cheerleading over the last 20 years, taking a year off here and there when I had my kids or when we ‘ve transitioned with Elliot’s job,” said Jacobs. “I’ve coached tumbling, some all star cheer, junior and senior high programs, worked for Universal Cheerleaders Association and as a choreographer.”
Jacobs assisted previous PC cheer coach Tiffany Graven for the past two years.
“When I started helping at PC, they welcomed me in right away and really took to my style of coaching quickly. Tiffany and I worked really well together. It just flowed naturally for us both,” said Jacobs.
“I cheered all through school at El Dorado and cheered under Vicky DeLone. I’ve always loved sports and loved ‘cheering’ others on. Those years of cheering for (DeLone) is when I really fell in love with the sport and the competitive side of cheerleading. She also taught us so much more than cheer. She molded so many of us into the women we are today.”
Jacobs took over the program in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her squad is still trying to gain its footing with a new coach and the health restrictions.
“COVID-19 definitely impacted our ‘start.’ The start of our season was delayed from March until the first of June when the Arkansas Athletic Association put the dead period in place. Once that was lifted, we proceeded with in-person tryouts following the AAA and Arkansas Department of Health directives, our acclimation period and began practicing,” she said. “Practice is definitely structured differently, but all the student-athletes have been troopers and adjusted quickly. We are just so grateful to be practicing and having the squad together in one place. Camp will look a little different this summer. We will be hosting a home camp and I’ll be trying to make that as much fun and exciting as we can. Everyone always loves heading off to camp and it is a key time for the squad to come together as a team. But these kids are great and adapt to changes with awesome attitudes, so I know they will do the same here at our home camp on our campus.
“We are really using our practices to get stronger through conditioning, focusing on sharpness, synchronization and learning material that we will use in the Fall for games and competition. We are also using this time to get to know each other better. We had a big group of seniors that left a big impact on our program, and it has been really fun to see this new group of seniors step up and lead so quickly. This is a young squad, but they’ve all jumped in and adapted quickly to our culture.”
Under Graven, Parkers Chapel competed at an elite level in the state cheer competition over the past few years. Jacobs said the squad will continue to embrace the competitive part of cheerleading.
“As a coach, I want to make sure our athletes are always working towards something, a common goal as a team and then goals individually, within cheer and outside of cheer,” she said. “I am big on positive affirmations and always pushing ourselves further than we think we can go. It will always be our goal to be in the number one spot in 1-3A Game Day at State. But I also want them to know that this is not just about that. It’s about the student they are in the classroom, how they support our athletic teams & community, serving others and being who they are as a person.
“I’ve been so grateful for the opportunity to coach the student-athletes in the cheer program under Tiffany over the last two years. So when this opportunity was presented to me, I knew it was time for me to transition to PC and be with my family. Seeing God’s plan come full circle has been amazing and I’m super excited about being on campus each day and serving our students and staff here at Parkers Chapel.”