Give her an 'I'
· Yahoo Sports
Aug. 8—CHAMPAIGN — Stepping into the role of head cheerleading coach at the University of Illinois represents a homecoming for MaKayla Gayler, alongside a continuation of a lifelong love for her sport.
"Lifelong" is no exaggeration here. Gayler says there are baby photos of her in a cheerleading outfit.
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"I have a long line of cheerleaders in my family," Gayler said. "So it's definitely a full-circle moment."
Of course, she wasn't performing on the sideline as an infant. Gayler's actual cheerleading career began at the ripe age of 5.
She started with Oakwood Youth Football Cheerleading and continued to stick with cheering at each school she attended in the Oakwood school district, all the way through high school graduation.
In addition, she joined a competitive cheerleading team in sixth grade, and stuck with that through her senior year as well.
While attending the UI, she joined the team led by then-coach Stephanie Record, and says it's an honor to be passed that torch now.
Record served as coach for 32 years, marking the longest period any individual led the program.
As team captain during her junior and senior seasons, Gayler became very close with Record.
"We hopped on a call a month ago, and she's like, 'You know, MaKayla, there's no one else I'd rather hand this to,'" Gayler said. "She made my college experience so elevated by giving me the opportunity to be on the team, but also meet alumni and have appearances and all the things that come with being an Illini cheerleader."
The college-cheerleading experience was "the coolest thing ever" in Gayler's opinion, giving her a front-row seat to the team she'd been a fan of her whole life, as well as opportunities to engage with neat community outreach events.
Even during college, Gayler worked for the Universal Cheerleaders Association. She stuck with that after her 2020 graduation and continued to coach camps including hundreds of high-school-age athletes.
While she loved working with those kids, Gayler found a big issue with the role: She'd get to know great young athletes over the span of a four-day camp, and then never run into them again.
"I'm excited for the follow-through. You know: What are our goals? How are we going to reach them? And then at the postseason or the end of the year: What goals did we reach? What did we not, and how can we make it better?" Gayler said.
The role is changing as Gayler steps into it.
Alongside coaching, she'll be working within the athletic department at the UI in marketing, community outreach and fan engagement — all things the cheerleaders already play a huge role in.
"My first goal, of course, is to prep the team for our first football game on September 3, but I'm also excited to get some more community outreach and fan appearances made for the team that we've not done in the past," Gayler said.
Gayler said the best way the community can help support the cheer team is to follow them on social media to be aware of upcoming events, and then actually come to those events.
One other thing she's excited for: supporting Illini teams while they're doing well.
"When the team's doing really well, that just means more opportunities for my cheerleaders to go to really cool places and keep cheering on the Illini in the postseason," Gayler said.