Dressed in their purple skirts and hair bows, the Asbury cheerleaders make their way onto the
center of the court to perform their halftime routine. The stadium quiets, and the twelve girls on the court wait in anticipation for the music to begin. When the music starts, the cheerleaders complete their routine with sharp motions and perfect stunts. They walk off the court where their coach, Alyssa Moberley, greets them with a job well done.
Moberly has been the head coach of the cheerleading team for two seasons. When she was hired in 2018, things began to turn around (literally and metaphorically) for the girls on the AU cheer team.
“Before Alyssa, the cheer team had to rely a lot on each other,” said former cheerleader and Asbury alum Monica Mullins. “The coaches were good, but the balance was not always there. The cheer team after Alyssa is a lot more coach and cheerleader balanced. Alyssa knows a lot about cheerleading, which is what our team needed.”
Moberly is also an alum and former Asbury cheerleader. She was asked by the Vice President of Athletics, Mark Whitworth, to return to her Eagle roots and be the head coach for the cheer team. Although the job is a big commitment, Moberly accepted the position.
“I saw girls with great talent that needed someone to come in and polish their skills to make them better than they already were,” said Moberly.
Due to her extensive background in cheerleading, Moberley was able to pinpoint what the cheerleaders needed to become a more uniform team. By implementing daily morning workout routines, new dances, tighter motions and good stunting techniques, Moberly has been able to take the AU cheer team from a group of girls yelling out cheers to a uniform squad impressing the crowd.
“The Asbury cheer girls have gotten so much better with their stunting and motions. They no longer look messy but sharp. They also have done a good job at getting the crowd engaged,” says Coach Moberley.
While the girls have come a long way, Moberley would like to take the team a step further and enter the cheer team into a competition in the future, although she remains realistic about such endeavors.
“We have come a long way in just the last two seasons. Competition is something we are talking about, but it is also something we don’t just want to jump into unprepared. We want to be able to showcase and have people see our talent, but we want to also make sure we are at the competition level of other teams,” said Moberley.
Whether or not the Asbury cheer team goes to competition this season, Moberley and the cheer girls have made obvious improvements and are going to continue on the path of growing together as a team and showcasing their improvement with each game.
“I love coaching the Asbury cheer team. Being able to coach allows me to pour into these girls and show them what it looks like to showcase their talents but to also show them how to be the hands and feet of Christ,” said Moberley.