Coach Newman is in her first season as head cheer coach at Ottawa University
Before coming to Ottawa University, Newman was the director and head cheer coach at Staley High School in Kansas City, Missouri, where she also taught Spanish for 13 years. She built the Staley cheer program from the initial opening of the school in 2008. Under her direction and choreography, the Falcon cheer teams qualified for and won numerous MCCA State Championships. Most recently, in 2020, the team competed in the Time Out category for the first time placing 1st in the 5A Large Division.
In addition to her coaching duties, Newman worked as director of the Staley cheer program organizing various youth clinics, fundraisers, community service events and assemblies. She also developed and maintained team budgets and expenditures for more than 50 athletes annually. Newman trained and supervised several first year coaches, who went on to lead their own programs after leaving Staley. She is proud that many of her former athletes have returned to Staley as assistant cheer coaches and continue to promote the growth of and love for the Staley Falcons cheer teams. Newman is currently a board member of the Missouri Cheer Coaches Association and is the director of the Kansas City Regional Competition and their annual coaches conference.
Prior to her time at Staley High School, Newman was the head cheer coach at Lawrence Free State High School for six years. She trained many teams on sideline and competitive cheer, choreographed performance routines for school assemblies, competitions and games. While at Free State High School, she was also the assistant gymnastics coach and diving coach. During this time, she was co-owner, director and coach for the Lawrence Cheer Academy (LCA), an all-star competitive cheer program based in Lawrence, Kan. LCA competed in many local, state and national competitions, finishing in the Top 10 each time. They also placed first four different times in national competition.
Newman graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor of arts in psychology in 2002. She attended KU on an athletic scholarship for cheerleading. Newman was also a member of the Barton County Community College cheerleading program, graduating in 1998 with an associate of science degree. She earned her masters in education in 2008 from Rockhurst University.
