The Scheels Coach of the Month award is a local community focused honor recognizing coaches for their outstanding performance, leadership, or positive impact within their sports program and community for that month. Local schools, leagues, and organizations use the ward to highlight mentors who drive both team success and the personal development of their athletes.
January’s winner was Pom Coach Tenneal Howard. Her coaching journey began in California when a local junior high school needed assistance with its cheer team; she has been dedicated to the sport ever since.
Despite the recognition, Howard remains humble. “I was pleasantly surprised, any success I’ve had at Perry has been because of the team’s hard work and dedication,” she said. “There’s a massive mental aspect to this sport, and it’s vital to ensure everyone is in the right headspace.”
A typical practice begins with a dynamic warm-up, followed by rigorous reviews of routines using counts. Music is only introduced once the choreography has been “cleaned” and specific sections clarified.
“I think every year we continue to raise the bar,” Howard mentioned. “While that can be stressful, there are so many life skills that come out of it, like being able to perform in high-intensity situations. We collaborate as a team after every competition to discuss what we did well and where we can improve.”
The results of this discipline speak for themselves. Under Howard’s leadership, the Pom team recently competed at Worlds in Orlando, Florida, where they earned the most accolades in school history, including 2nd and 3rd-place finishes in major Varsity categories.
Her impact is felt deeply by her athletes, including her daughter, sophomore Jersey Howard, who has been in the program for two years. “I actually had no clue my mom won, but she definitely deserves it,” Jersey said. “She puts in so much work and gives it her all every single time.”
Senior Addison Jones, a four-year member of the program, agreed. “Coach Howard always pushes us to do our best, especially when we are cleaning routines and preparing for competitions.”
Pom and Cheer require extreme precision and drive, where every move must be as close to perfection as possible. It is a demanding environment, but one built on mutual respect.
“We have so much fun,” Coach Howard added. “They work their tails off. There are sometimes tears from both them and me, but at the end of the day, we work together to do our absolute best.”
