2008 Coaches of the Year
Division 4: Coach Jayne Sabaitas , Colon High School
Jayne came to colon 4 years ago and could have coached anywhere else in michigan. But fortunately she chose us! She has been a true inspiration to our community. She has taught not only the girls but a town to believe that even though you are small (division 4) you are worthy of a state title. That belief has given us back to back to back regional titles, and our best finish at state,3rd!!!
Her work ethic has spilled over to our cheer program and made our other sports programs wonder if they are working hard enough. Coming from a larger community, where she had lots of talent to choose from, we knew it would be a challenge to take a handfull of girls and make them the athletes they were destined to be. She not only accepted this challenge she made it work. This year's competitive cheerleaders are truly the best athletes ever produced by Colon High School. She has been a great mentor and coach. Any parent that has had a daughter go through the cheer program knows that Jayne has given them great tools as they step out into adulthood. For this we are truly grateful.
Division 2: Danielle Jokela and Christine Wilson, Gibraltar Carlson
Their tireless efforts and determination, coupled with a very strong belief in their team enabled them to take the Marauders to the pinnacle of success in just two years-Division 2 State Champs!!
Danielle and Christie are a perfect blend of what it takes to manage teen-age girls; tough discipline and no-nonsense practices tempered with encouragement and respect for each girl. Even though it is a team effort every day, these coaches have found a way to reach out to each girl on an individual level to get them to believe that together, they are unstoppable. Even though they have only been coaching a short time, I think that this year's record and State Title should be acknowledged and rewarded.
On a side note, even though both ladies are very busy with their own team, jobs, school, lives,etc. they always made time to encourage and give advice to the Shumate Middle School team-not just because they might be future Marauders, but because the "little girls" look up to and admire the "big girls" and their coaches so much-most of the Shumate girls were in the stands at the State Finals, cheering for their Varsity sisters, all because the coaches encouraged and welcomed the suppport.
Danielle and Christie have inspired a fierce loyalty among the cheerleaders and parents of not only their Varsity team,but from anyone they have contact with. Thank you for your consideration of these two wonderful, incredible coaches.
Division 1: Stacy Sheler, East Kentwood High School
(OK, slighlty biased since she is my sister, but she definitely deserves it, so why not???)
Since taking over the reigns at East Kentwood, Stacy has led the Falcons to the MHSAA State Finals every year of her tenure. Their highest finish of State Runners-up made EK the only division one team besides Rochester and Grandville to achieve a top two finish.
Stacy works with her team members not only on cheer skills, but on skills that will help them throughout their lives. She values integrity over high scores, honesty over places, and doing the right thing over championships. In leading her teams this way, she is showing them that doing the right thing does not always mean you win the game, but by doing the right thing you will always come out ahead in the game of life.
Division 3: Kathy Felty, Comstock Park High School
Comstock Park had an awesome year. Kathy is a large part of this. She is very knowledgable and hard working and continues to make great teams year after year! Her round three creativity is always a joy to watch. Kathy has coached for a number of years and is an inspiration to her team as well as to other coaches!
