Leopard Look: Shelly Wiggins

‘I love to impact children’s lives inside and outside of cheerleading’

Grant Doig, Staff Reporter • October 18, 2016

New cheer coach Shelly Wiggins has been coaching the sport for 20 years now. Wiggins moved to the district after previously working as a competitive cheer coach at a local gym.

At a Glance:

Favorite type of food: Mexican

Favorite cheer: AO

What college did you go to: Trinity Valley and University of North Texas

Dog or cat: Dog

Looking Deeper:

The Red Ledger: How does working at a high school differ from working at a gym?

Shelly Wiggins: At the high school you focus more on school spirit, but at the gym it’s strictly about competitive cheering.

TRL: Why did you choose to coach at the high school?

SW: I don’t get to see my family as much as I want to, so now I coach a few teams at the gym and the high school team.

TRL: How do UIL competitions differ from competitive cheer competitions?

SW: Competitive is a two and a half minute routine with lots of tumbling and stunting, while UIL is more based on getting the crowd involved than routines.

TRL: Why do you like coaching?

SW: I love to impact children’s lives inside and outside of cheerleading, and I love to see them grow. I enjoy helping them grow as individuals.

TRL: What’s you favorite part about this year’s team?

SW: Everything’s new this year and the girls are very open to changes and that makes it fun.

TRL: Do you have a family?

SW: I’m married to my husband Zach, who coaches at Faubion Middle School in McKinney, and I have two kids: Lylah, she’s 7, she cheers and plays soccer; and Jaxon who’s 9 and plays baseball and football.

TRL: How does coaching conflict with family?

SW: A lot of after hours so it just takes away from family time.

TRL: What do you like most about Lovejoy?

SW: I like that they’re open to changes, and they want every program in the school to be the best it can be, and they’re working hard to make that happen.

TRL: What are some things that you want to do differently with the cheer team than past years?

SW: We’re really trying to raise school spirit and focus on not just the cheerleaders, but focus on everybody. In addition to that we’re working on strengthening their individual areas of cheer.

About the Contributors

Grant Doig, Staff Reporter

Grant Doig is a senior who spends most of his time in the classroom or on the baseball diamond. He enjoys all sports especially baseball, basketball, and football. This will be his first year on The Red Ledger staff and he is looking forward to the opportunity to be a part of the award-winning publication. When Grant is not playing baseball or studying, he enjoys writing, traveling, and hanging out with friends. After high school, he plans to attend college at either Arkansas, Auburn, or Texas A&M along with a few others. Grant is a member of the National Honor Society where he often volunteers around the community. Also an attendee at FCA; he takes his relationship with God very seriously. Music is a big part of his life and his favorite types of music are hip hop and old country music, not that new country trash. Grant also likes playing video games and will accept any challenger in NCAA Football ‘14 or NBA 2K. His favorite subject in school is history and particularly enjoys the big chocolate chip cookies in the lunch line, although his coach would like him to limit that purchase.

Parker Nolan, Section Editor

Senior Parker Nolan joined The Red Ledger in ninth grade and is now the paper’s Multimedia Editor. His hobbies include making music, photography, and borderline dangerous escapades (some consider him an adrenaline junkie). Parker is currently dual enrolled at Collin College for Emergency Medical Services education to become an EMT. His favorite movie is “The Italian Job,” and his favorite genres of music are alternative rock and rap. "Be the change you want to see in the world,” a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, is a phrase that Parker tries to live his life by. In his spare time, Parker enjoys working out, hanging with friends, and exploding fireworks. Parker can be described as sometimes chill, sometimes adrenaline filled, and a little too confident in his abilities.