UMaine cheerleading coach also judges HS events

When it comes to basketball, fans never know what they’re going to see at a tournament game.

There is however one thing they can count on not seeing: an active college basketball coach working on the official timing/scorekeeping crew.

The same can’t be said of cheerleading championship meets. In fact, University of Maine cheerleading coach Lisa Ackley has been a judge for the last two years at regional and state high school cheering championships.

The Old Town High School and University of Miami graduate admits she sometimes feels a bit self-conscious at meets, but since there are no rules prohibiting her presence and she has her own guidelines, she says there’s very little conflict of interest.

“We have a little bit more leeway in cheering because we aren’t considered an NCAA sport,” Ackley said. “We kind of have our own set of rules because we don’t have the restrictions that are placed on a lot of other coaches as far as contact with potential athletes.”

Ackley said the reason for this freer approach is the fact the NCAA classifies cheering as a competitive activity. UMaine recognizes it as a sport, albeit a non-scholarship one, and that status is another factor which frees her up from the NCAA catalog of rules and regulations.

“I can talk to whoever I want because I have no restrictions, but if I’m judging, I don’t. I don’t even talk to them during or afterward,” she said.

Besides, Ackley added, she’s so focused on judging and evaluating the teams’ routines, she says she doesn’t have the time or presence of mind to notice individual cheerleaders.

“If I’m there to judge, judging is all I’m going to do,” said Ackley, now in her third year as both coach and UM promotions coordinator. “I don’t really have many restrictions placed on me, but I do have my own personal restrictions I place on myself.”

Ackley has noticed significant advancement in high school cheering the last few years, most notably with increasingly difficult and complex routines, an emphasis on tumbling, and a gradually increasing number of male cheerleaders.

“There are quite a few male cheerleaders on teams out there this year and I was very happy to see that. I got all excited because we’ve really struggled with that the last couple years,” said Ackley, who will lose two of the three males on her team to graduation this year. “It makes a big difference because a lot of girls coming out of high school expect they’re going to cheer with males.”

This time of year is especially busy for Ackley. The high school seasons have all wrapped up, but her team is busy as both the UMaine men’s and women’s teams are in the midst of postseason runs. This weekend, she’ll divide her squad up and send one group to Boston to be at the America East men’s championship game and the other to Hartford, Conn., to cheer for the UMaine women.

Even the “off-season” is hectic. Last year, her team finished third in the small college coed division at the National Cheerleaders’ Association Championship, a prestigious invitational event which attracts close to 100 teams in various divisions each April to Daytona Beach, Fla.

The exposure from Maine’s appearance at the NCA event generated a lot of interest from prospective students and was invaluable to a program with no scholarships, a very small budget, and one volunteer assistant.

“We don’t have a lot to recruit with, but I try to get out there and sell them on UMaine itself,” said Ackley, who relies on high school cheering coaches statewide to help spread the word. “”I send out a lot of mailings to let them know what we’re doing and trips like we took to the nationals last year are great ways to attract people.”

Mc-Nominees from Maine

Twenty-three senior Maine basketball players have been recognized among the best in the nation as nominees to the first-ever McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Teams.

Boys nominees are Bucksport’s Jason Harvey, Hodgdon’s Tyler Putnam, Valley of Bingham twins Jason and Luke Hartwell, Georges Valley of Thomaston’s Travis Magnusson, Brunswick’s Dan Hammond, Deering of Portland’s Nik Caner-Medley and Walter Phillips, Lewiston’s Matt Chateauvert, and Cape Elizabeth’s Aaron Spaulding.

Girls nominees are Woodland’s Ashley Marble and Julia Knights, Cony of Augusta’s Juana Andrews and Lindsay Frye, Camden Hills’ Andrea Blanchard and Lauren Withey, Calais’ Katie Frost and Lanna Martin, Donna Cowing of Erskine Academy in South China, McAuley of Portland’s Patricia Freeman and Justine Pouravelis, Skowhegan’s Tiffany Jones, and Gray-New Gloucester’s Katie Whittier.

These players will be considered to be one of 48 (24 boys, 24 girls) athletes to play in the 2002 McDonald’s All-American Game April 4 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Final selections will be made in February. This is the first time a girls game will be played.

Andrew Neff’s High school report is published each Wednesday. He can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or aneff@bangordailynews.net.