By Emily Muntz
Navigating relationships in high school can be challenging, not only in a romantic sense but with everyone around you—classmates, peers, parents, teachers, coaches, and especially yourself. Sometimes you need something to do to keep your mind occupied. For many students cheerleading has fulfilled that occupation. Cheerleading has been around since 1898. It has become a large component of high school sports.
The cheer program at Louisville has been growing for many years and achieved much success. The 2024-25 cheer season marked the end of an era with head coach, Mel Schmitt. Mrs. Schmitt has been the head coach for the last 6 years and was an assistant for 7 years before that.
“I had the opportunity of learning from some of my favorite people in this building. I coached with Jerico Olson first and then with Tracy Klein where I learned so much. I think that it was the right timing for me to take the position after learning so much from such well educated people,” she said.
Mrs. Schmitt is also a teacher at Louisville and a mom of twins. Learning to balance a home life and job as well as being a coach can be very difficult, but it can also help prepare you.
“Nick and I had kids later in life, so my cheer girls were kind of like my own kids for a while, and my kids look up to the girls.”
Schmitt has had a very big impact on the cheer program and the students involved.
“As much as I like to say, I play some sort of small role in how those students grow from their freshman to senior year, they helped me grow as a person. They helped me grow up. They taught me so many things,” she said.
Schmitt has led by example and always showed a good attitude towards the cheerleaders, which has left a lasting impact. She will be both remembered and missed on the cheer mats. Competition season gets busy and chaotic, but knowing that you have a strong foundation is very important.
“The relationships I’ve built over the years are my most favorite part of it. Trophies are, of course, always fun, and first place is great, but even the years that we weren’t very successful, they’re still some of my favorite memories.”
By creating these relationships and bonds with each other, it makes saying goodbye to the program so much harder. Finley Meisinger is currently a senior at Louisville and has been involved in cheer for 4 years and is one of the two captains this year.
“Mel was a very good role model. She is someone that I will always look up to and it’s good to have her in my back pocket if I ever need someone to reach out to, or if I ever need help, because she has always been a great adult figure in my life and a very big role model for me,” said Meisinger.
Students spend lots of time with coaches during practices, team bonding, and competitions. Coaches tend to have a large impact on their students and often serve as a role model. Good coaches give their students a sense of belonging and understanding while having a lasting impact on the students' high school experience. Mrs. Schmitt has fulfilled all of those things for much of the cheer team. During her time as a coach, Schmitt has had an impact on a large portion of the high school student body. She will forever cherish the memories made along the way. Throughout the season fans can always hear “last time” echoing from the bottom of the stands before the cheer comes to an end. While Schmitt’s cheer era has come to a close, “last time” will forever have a deeper meaning.