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After eight years at the helm of the Southwest High cheerleading squad, Denise Harrison is stepping down. (STEVEN ESPERANZA PHOTO / January 29, 2013) |
The most accomplished high school cheer program in the Imperial Valley has received a change of the guard.
Southwest High cheer coach Denise Harrison passed the Eagles spirit stick on to Kyleen Lopez at the culmination of the 2012 football season, after eight years as adviser.
“I have wanted to do this for a couple years now,” Harrison said. “My daughter is in her third year at UCLA and now I can go be with her more often and support her.
“Another drive behind me shifting positions in cheer is that I was raised to do everything all the way; if you can’t give 100 percent, why do it at all?” she said.
Harrison is quick to point out that she will still be very near her cheerleading family: the community, parents and most of all girls that she calls her own.
“I’m not leaving the cheer world,” she said. “I’m going to be consulting.
“I want to help with other cheer programs, and I’m going to be judging cheer competitions,” Harrison said.
The accomplished cheer coach has taken the Southwest Eagles to six national championships, which included a school-best sixth place out of the entire nation last year.
Harrison also took her girls to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2012, missing out on a family reunion in the process.
“Since I’m going to give 100 percent, I have no time for anything else, such as being with my family,” she said. “But consulting and judging, those are things I can pick and choose.”
Under Harrison, the Eagles cheer squad has won every spirit stick from each summer cheer camp they’ve attended.
They have made appearances in the 2009 Holiday Bowl and have had offers to go to several other college football bowls, as well as to attend the NFL Pro Bowl and events in London.
“What made us successful all these years was a trinity of support: my (former) athletic director, Craig Lyon, my parents, and this wonderful community,” Harrison said.
“My athletic director was a huge support because he believed as I did: that it wasn’t about politics or ego,” she said. “It’s about the kids.”
As far as taking up the mantle of leadership with the purple and gold, Imperial High alum Kyleen Lopez is certainly up to the task.
“My biggest challenge is going to be that I have some pretty big shoes to fill,” she said. “I just want to keep the same amazing program that has been running so consistently and smoothly for long to stay that way.
“For me, I want to show everybody that I can keep this program thriving just as well as Denise did,” Lopez said. “She did an amazing job and I don’t want to let her or the girls down.”
The former junior varsity cheer coach with the Imperial Tigers is already looking forward to plenty of trips next year.
“My plans are to keep the program the same,” Lopez said. “Next year, we have plans of returning to the Macy’s Day Parade, and going to Regionals and Nationals.
“To me, if it’s not broken, you don’t need to fix it,” she said. “I just want to keep the same program in place and add my flair to it.”
For her part, Harrison said she is extremely delighted to have Lopez step up to the mat.
“I couldn’t have picked a better coach if I had done it myself,” Harrison said. “I know the parents and community will continue to support this program, which is why I was so fortunate.
“As long as she has the same kind of support with her athletic director, Mickey Carter, as I did with mine, then the Southwest cheer program will succeed for many years, which is what I want to see happen,” she said.
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