Taylor Dec learns about life from cheering, coaching
By Kyle LoJacono
Seven years ago Taylor Dec made a seemingly minor decision that has since made her into the person she is today.
It was in fifth grade that Taylor first became a cheerleader. She started with the Lutz Chiefs program, progressed to a competitive club called the Florida Wildcats in middle school and moved on to cheering at Gaither High.
“I think it’s really shaped me as a person,” Taylor said of cheering. “It’s given me a lot more confidence than I would have if I did any other sport. … It teaches you how to work hard and take what other people say, like their constructive criticism, to make you better.”
Taylor feels so strongly about cheering that she started coaching the Chiefs midgets team, for girls ages 11-13, last year as a way to teach kids about the activity she loves so much.
“I really enjoyed coaching and coming up with the routines,” Taylor said. “I volunteered to do it and I felt like I could give really good advice to the younger girls.”
Taylor put in about 16 hours per week between Gaither’s squad and coaching, amazing considering she was not too thrilled with the idea of signing up for cheerleading seven years ago.
“At first I didn’t really want to cheer,” Taylor said. “My friends had to talk me into it because they were cheering for Lutz. Then I just fell in love with it. It’s so fast paced and you can always improve.”
Taylor’s mother, Lori, said she has seen a great deal of growth in her daughter since she started cheering.
“The biggest thing I’ve seen in her develop is her leadership skills,” Lori said. “Being able to take directions and help whatever team she is on get to their goals. That’s not to say she’s had a leadership role on every team she’s been on, but her leadership in life has emerged.
“As a parent you hope your child can find something that they love so much that they want to do whether they aren’t feeling good or tired or whatever,” Lori continued. “You want them to find something they can be that passionate about and for Taylor it was cheerleading.”
Lori coached with her daughter, but Taylor led all the practices and choreographed the performances.
“It was really very touching,” said Lori of watching Taylor coach. “My husband has always been a coach and I’ve been in some support position, but watching her turn into a coach was really heartwarming. … I’ve seen her develop so much patience from coaching through mentoring these girls. It’s been a great experience and all the girls really love her. That’s been really rewarding to me.”
It was also rewarding for all of Taylor’s pupils, including Alex Zayas who started cheering last year for the Chiefs.
“She always kept us together,” said Zayas, a seventh-grader at Martinez Middle. “She was one of those good coaches who never made any of us cry or anything. She was really determined to make us better. Most of the girls had never cheered before, but by the end of the year we were all a lot better.”
The Chiefs were unable to win a competition during Taylor’s first year coaching in 2010, but the squad claimed championships in all three of the events it participated in this season. The first was the Best of the Bay, where Lutz was recognized for having the best choreography.
The Chiefs followed that up with titles at the Gulf Coast Cheer Classic and the Tampa Bay Youth Football League’s cheer offs.
“It was so exciting to see them win three events,” Taylor said. “I was so proud of them because they’ve worked really hard all year. … This year’s group of girls was so motivated and talented. I just hope they continue cheering because they’re really good at it.”
Zayas said she plans to continue cheering at least in part because of what Taylor taught her the last two years.
“She was always there for us,” Zayas said. “We always liked going to practice because of her.”
Taylor said this is her final year as a coach and cheerleader. She could not pick out one favorite memory from her time cheering because there have been so many highlights.
“I’ve loved competing in all the events for club cheering,” Taylor said. “I love competing. For high school I’ve loved cheering at all the games. They’ve all been fun. For coaching it was just seeing them get better each practice and seeing them win this year.”
