Coaches Corner

     Even after 21 years in his position of cheerleading advisor, Dr. Jerry Fly has trouble defining his job.
     “I’m still not really sure what my title is,” Fly said. “I’m just the fellow who’s in charge of the cheerleaders.”
     Fly began his career at GCSU in 1980 as a sociology instructor. Five years later he was handed the reigns of the cheerleading program.
     “(Former GCSU Athletic Director) Dr. (Mike) Peeler asked me if I would be the cheer advisor when the previous cheer advisor retired,” Fly said. “He knew I liked sports and went to a lot of the (GCSU) games and I said, ‘Well, I don’t know anything about cheerleaders, but I appreciate what they do, because I played sports in high school,’ and I agreed to do it.”
     Fly played baseball and basketball as a high school student and soon found that the love for those sports carried over to his position with the cheerleading program.
     “Through on-the-job training I just started to learn what to do and what cheerleaders should be like and 22 years later I’m still doing it,” Fly said.
     While Fly has advised the cheerleaders they have enjoyed a lot of success.
     “We’ve finished in the top six teams in the nationals for the last 12 years in a row,” Fly said. “We’ve even won it a few times.”
     The Bobcat cheerleaders have won the national championship three times, in 1998, 1999 and 2001. They have also placed second twice, in 2003 and 2005.
     Fly said his role in the program is different from year to year.
     “It changes and sometimes I have to take  charge,” he said. “But it’s mostly about having fun.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 20 2007. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry