Christy Clouse
There are more than three decades of teaching and more than three decades of being involved in the sport of cheerleading.
Good luck determining the source of Christy Clouse’s own, personal fountain of youth.
Coffee County High School’s decorated, long-running head cheer coach just keeps pouring into the youth of her community.
“I love the sport, and I love the relationships you build with the students and other coaches as well,” said Clouse, 34 years deep into her work as cheer coach in the school system in which she grew up. “I work with a great group of people, and I get to work with some amazing coaches across the state as well.
“Officers for TCCA (Tennessee Cheerleaders Coaches Association) from Memphis to Knoxville and everywhere.”
Clouse, who grew up in Manchester and is teaching in the school system that provided her foundation before her undergraduate degree at MTSU and post-graduate degree at Tennessee Tech, is the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s Distinguished Service Award winner for October.
She is surrounded by her former pupils, still working with youth in her local church and still faithfully reporting for duty at Coffee County Raider Academy, the system’s new ninth-grade home following her decades of service in the primary high school.
Cheerleading is public-facing, ever-demanding and – without a traditional playing surface – nonetheless developing future community leaders, which Clouse sees firsthand.
“That’s the No. 1 goal of all of this, is to give students skills to move on and be good citizens and give back to their communities as well,” she said. “Cheerleading is something that provides a skillset that not all sports provide.
“I have students who are leaders, former students and cheerleaders, now leaders in their areas who attribute a lot of those interpersonal skills to cheerleading. I feel it’s something that kind of builds leaders.”
Clouse’s comments are cloaked in humility. She knows the leadership element firsthand. From her assistant coach to the school system’s middle school coaches in the sport of cheerleading, they all trace their roots to experiences cheering under Clouse.
Lindsay Dickson and Courtney Eaton are coaching the community’s future high school cheerleaders; Mandy Wallace is helping Clouse shape the high school participants.
Soon Clouse, a leader in state cheerleading organizations as well as a stalwart in her community who aides in Coffee County’s annual fair, is going to be a central figure in helping select Tennessee’s All-State cheerleaders – an incomparable honor closing in on two decades of history.
The process is as layered as an elite cheer routine.
“It’s different for us, you don’t have newspapers selecting an All-State or other districts, regions selecting or anything like that,” she said. “This is our 18th year, I think. We really wanted to make sure that what we used as our criteria was well-rounded, because cheerleading, there are so many different things going on.
“You’re not just an athlete but many times the face of your school. Community appearances, you’re asked to stand in front of a crowd and try to get them to lead on another sport. It’s more than just a sport, is what I like to say.”
TSSAA proudly recognizes Christy Clouse for her decades of commitment as a coach and educator in Tennessee.
