Alumni Cheerleaders found out what member, Erica Emond has been up to. She is a role model, cheerleader coach, and inspiration for young girls and shares her story with us.
My name is Erica Emond. I have cheered ALL MY LIFE!
I started out cheering for Taunton Cubs (Taunton, MA) football when I was in elementary school (1984). I cheered through 8th grade (1989) for this team. I also cheered for my middle school (Mulcahey Mustangs) and was a captain in 7th and 8th grade (1988-89). I tried out in 8th grade for the Varsity team at Taunton High School. Three f my girlfriends and I that cheered together in middle school made the varsity squad. My 4 years of cheering in high school (1989 – 1993) were the best! My best friends are the girls I cheered with. Great times were had at games, competition and most of all cheerleading camp. My funniest memory of camp was winning an impromptu lip singing contest to “Baby Got Back!” My sophomore year we were state champions and placed usually in the top 3 spots at all the local events.
Once I entered college, I retired from cheerleading for a few years. I commuted to Bridgewater State College and earned a Chemistry degree with minors in Biochemistry and Physics. I got asked by a local middle school to choreograph their halftime routine while I was in college. I had a heavy workload at school, but managed to find the time to do it.
After graduation (1998), I got a full-time job at a pharmaceutical company in Brockton, MA. My little cousin was 6 years old at the time and signed up to cheer for Taunton Pop Warner. They were in need of coaches and my uncle put my name down. Little did I know what I was getting myself into! I ended up coaching the next 8 years for Pop Warner. I stayed with the same group of girls, more or less, and we worked our way up from the Mighty Mites to the A team. I went from teaching them how to spell TAUNTON in a cheer, to how to do basket tosses and heel stretches. This team of 35 cheerleaders was phenomenal! I became good friends with some of the parents and got to see a group of girls grow to be young ladies. During those 8 years, I got engaged, married (2000), and had a son (Matthew) in 2004 and was pregnant with my daughter (Jillian) in 2006. So life was very busy for me. These cheerleaders placed 1st in the Hockomock League in 2004 and 2nd in 2005. They went on to a regional competition from there where they placed 8th in the region, 2nd in their state! We had 7 basket tosses hit all at once. Heel stretches, liberties, you name it! When they graduated 8th grade and moved to high school, I retired from coaching for a few years.
Now my son Matthew is 5 and my daughter Jillian is 3. He plays flag football for the Taunton Cubs. I was asked to join them as a coach. I am currently coaching the C team (ages 8 – 9) for my first season back. It’s very hectic with working, a family, and choreographing a routine, but I love it. I enjoy seeing the girls learn from me. I like knowing they’ll take this season and all they’ve learned and apply it to their cheering in the future. I’ve always said I think I am a better coach than I was a cheerleader. I loved cheering and competing, but I get to do both and connect with the youth of today. I love to be a positive influence on them and show them, with strong will and effort, there’s so much they can accomplish. Those Pop Warner girls are now seniors in high school. I went to a Friday night game and saw them cheering the other night. We took pictures together and one commented “where it all started”. I’m glad they think of me that way. I like to know they enjoyed their years with me and I hope to carry on that image with all my future teams.
I look forward to my Jillian being able to cheer. She runs around the house now saying “5-6-7-8” and then does a pike jump or toe-touch. I can’t wait to be the parent watching their daughter. I can’t imagine the nerves!!
My Mom (Norma Pimenta) wrote a book “Smiling Eyes” and it travels through all my years of cheering and coaching as well as hers. You can read all about our successes and failures throughout our cheer careers. It also entails a tragic accident she was in and the rehabilitation process, along with losing my grandmother to a fast spreading cancer. It’s a very relatable book for all of us that have lost someone dear and for all of us that love the sport of cheering.
Alumni Cheerleaders highly recommends this great book “Smiling Eyes” for your reading pleasure. The author is Alumni Cheerleaders member, Norma Pimenta – Contact her at smiling.eyes2005@yahoo.com
Alumni Cheerleaders 