When Amanda Windom attended last year’s 46th News Journal All-Star Classic, she noticed something that was missing.
So, when it was time for the 47th Classic to undergo its organizational process, she knew she wanted to reach out. The long-time cheer coach at St. Peter’s wanted to bring another aspect to the game’s impact within the community. So, she asked for permission to organize cheerleaders for this week’s NJ Classic.
And just like how she coaches, she isn’t about to do anything less than 100%. If she is going to do it, she is going to do it big.
Windom has taken the reigns and will have cheerleaders from St. Peter’s and Mansfield Christian performing sideline cheers during the game and invited squads from Plymouth and Northmor to perform condensed halftime routines in front of the enormous crowd the All-Star classic typically brings.
It is just another way for Windom to share her passion for the sport and help it grow.
“For me, it comes from school pride,” Windom said. “It started with the St. Peter’s Spartans when I went there and graduated in 1999. Cheer was everything there and I made all my best friends through cheer. I was never seen as an other there because we all spoke cheer. That was why I had a unique upbringing where I didn’t feel any of those oppressing things outside because I was part of a community that was so string and I wanted to give that to my girls.”
Windom remained close to cheer even after her days at St. Peter’s. She went on to cheer at Ohio Dominican University before working for Cheerleaders of America out of Columbus when she graduated college. She spent the next several years involved in high-level competitive cheer and was the head coach at The Ohio State University Mansfield for several seasons before the athletic programs were eliminated.
“My daughter asked me to coach at St. Peter’s because she said she didn’t trust anyone else but me and it was for her and my Spartans, so it was a no-brainer,” Windom said. “I bleed blue. I wanted to merge culture of St. Peter’s with the African American culture to bring a bridge to bring that community and Spartan way. It’s all about teaching them how cheer sisterhood can elevate your academic career and your future.”
Now, Windom gets to bring that passion to a big stage like the 47th News Journal All-Star Classic. It’s an opportunity she is very much looking forward to.
“It’s more than neat,” Windom said. “It is amazing. It is the most coveted opportunity for our sport. We are looking forward to putting all kinds of different types of cheer on display. We are hype cheer AKA stomp cheer. We have competition cheer, game day cheer and sideline competition cheer. It will all be on display and I cannot wait.”
Neither can Plymouth advisor Renee Friedrich-Music. The second-year coach at Plymouth started a competitive cheer program at the high school and has grown it to a height never thought possible at the school. The Big Red most recently competed in the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s state tournament less than a year after the program even started.
“I told the girls they need to be competing and the girls were so confused,” Friedrich-Music said. “They didn’t know cheer competed, so we formed our squad in March of 2025 and in less than a year, we were competing in regionals and then qualified for state. It was an insane ride. We don’t have cheer mats, we don’t get gym time. Everything we do is in the hallways of the school. I am just so proud of them.”
Friedrich-Music got the idea to start a competitive cheer program at Plymouth very early after taking over as the advisor.
“For me, it was the first pep rally I came to and I was stunned,” Friedrich-Music said. “I told the girls we are going to turn this upside down. We are going to get students back involved, get them rowdy in the student section and light that fire into the community for sports.”
And it has.
“I tell my girls all the time that there are games where they will play a role in the trajectory of the outcome,” Friedrich-Music said. “When it is neck and neck, it is their job to get the crowd in the game and change the momentum. They saw that last year in a game against Seneca East where we ended up winning by one. We were running up and down the gym getting everyone on their feet.”
And now they get to bring that passion to the News Journal All-Star Classic with a halftime routine, a condensed version of what they performed at the state tournament. It will be another way for the Big Red to share the things they have worked on and learned over the last year.
“We are so excited,” Friedrich-Music said. “I am from the Columbus area and have seen it all. So we are excited to showcase what we do on such a big stage in front of one of the biggest crowds we have ever seen. We can’t wait.”
jfurr@usatodayco.com
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Cheer to be highlighted during NJ All-Star Classic basketball games
Reporting by Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
