Nikki Fedorko is aware of the cheerleading tradition at George Rogers Clark High School.
“I am very familiar with GRC’s cheerleading tradition,” she said earlier this week. “It’s very deep rooted and I know it’s probably known, because it's done so well in the past. They’ve been champions, I want to say, 13 times. Through all of the research I’ve done, that’s what I have seen.”
Fedorko replaces Amy Madsen, who stepped down last month and has already begun practicing with the squad, which was already selected prior to her arrival.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “As soon as I was announced (as the coach), I got everything ready and prepared for competition season, football season and basketball season. I’m excited to see where the season takes us.”
Fedorko hopes the final destination involves a national appearance, along with a regional and state title in the traditional division, an area where the team has excelled in the past under former coaches Ruth Thornberry, Jennifer Graham and Nella Payne.
“I would definitely like to take my team to nationals,” she said. “That’s probably my primary goal right now and main focus, but in order to get there, I obviously have to be able to train my athletes and be able to prepare for competitions. You start with regional, then state and hopefully make it to the nationals. I’m to train my girls not only emotionally, but physically. We’ll be doing a lot of conditioning and practicing their basic skills. We have a really strong tumbling squad and in stunting, we’re still working on that, because we’re so young and small, because they’re about the same size and height.”
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pa., Fedorko was part of all-star, middle and high school squads and was the dance coach at Southern Middle School in Lexington last year.
“I am familiar with both arenas of cheerleading,” she said. “I’ve danced my entire life, but came to the University of Kentucky and stopped cheerleading and dancing for four years and I missed it.”
Now that she’s back, she’s ready to help cheer on the Cardinals.
