By John Murden
Loretta Watson understands the value of a good coach. A dedicated friend. And a trusted mentor. Every year for the past 20 years, she’s opened up her heart to a new group of young ladies, hooking them into the sisterhood of her cheerleading program.
“I grew up in Creighton from birth to my senior year of college. I can recall some of my mentors who took time with me and other girls, who made sure that we were occupied doing something positive,” says Watson, who has coached a generation of girls in Richmond Public Schools, first at East End Middle School (later Onslow Minnis) and now at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School.
Watson’s approach is natural. It’s loving. And it works. Girls return to visit years Watson and her crew even after they’ve graduated.
“Cheer season does not end for us,” explains Watson of the connection that goes beyond athletics and well past the end of the school day for “King’s Queens.”
“They have a sisterhood that is just amazing,” smiles Watson. “They look out for each other, they love each other.”
Participants in Watson’s cheering program say that she has a knack for keeping the girls busy and focused. As a result, the squad from MLK Middle School has brought home 1st place honors in two of the first three years of the Richmond Public Schools Middle School Cheer competition. And earlier this year the squad performed as special guests at the “Stomp and Shake” cheer competition on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. The squad also traveled to the CIAA cheer expo, giving them the opportunity to see college cheerleaders in action.
Watson says that in the future she’ll work to put together a college tour as a way to introduce the students to college life through cheerleading. She says that she’ll start with college cheer squads in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Along the way her goal is to visit the birthplace of Martin Luther King and walk the college campuses as a way to meet other college cheerleaders and let them see what it means to represent a program on another level beyond middle school.
“I want them to look back and say that I had the time of my life,” says Watson, “that I learned how to be a team player, I learned that there is a life out there, that I can make something of my myself. I want them to go on to high school and remember what I installed in them.”