When people think of competitive cheerleading, Wisconsin usually isn’t the first place that comes to mind. Cherokee Greendeer was just 19 years old when she set out to start a cheer gym there in 1999, but she knew she was taking a risk. “I had to be direct; I had to sell the sport, to make everyone see that this is definitely legitimate,” says Greendeer. “Parents thought, ‘Rah rah rah, that’s all our daughter will do,’ but once they saw what it was really about, they said, ‘Wow, this is what our daughter can do?!’”

Despite her youth and her initial difficulties communicating the true competitive nature of the sport, Green Bay Elite thrived. Most of her inaugural athletes came from Green Bay Southwest High School and her own alma mater, Ashweaubenon High School—where she’d cheered for her senior year. (Greendeer first started cheering as a fourth-grader in her home state of Ohio and had also cheered for NEO All-Stars before moving to Wisconsin in high school.) Along with calling on her high school connections, Greendeer began hiring more trained, qualified and credentialed coaches.

Following a building period, Green Bay Elite’s teams outgrew their regional competitors and began traveling to compete nationwide. 2007 marked the first year that a GBE team earned a Worlds bid, and 2010 the first year one of her teams placed in its top three (International Junior All-Girl Level 5)—a significant turning point in Greendeer’s eyes.

“It was quite an accomplishment because these kids had grown up through our program,” recalls Greendeer. “I’d known these little girls since they walked in here and couldn’t do a cartwheel, so to medal in Worlds was a huge accomplishment for us.”

So what’s the secret behind GBE’s success? It’s a combination of love of the sport, insistence on respect and business savvy. “I was so young when I started building the program that I had to learn how important the business part is,” says Greendeer. “In our industry, you have to keep two clients happy: the parents and the athletes. You’ve got to make sure they believe in your program, that they love it with their whole heart, because that’s what keeps them coming back.”

Some lessons she could only learn through failure. Looking back, Greendeer says she wishes she would have hired an office manager off the bat, as she tried to do everything herself with less than desirable results. “Thinking I could do every role was my biggest mistake,” she recalls. “To succeed, you have to learn from your mistakes and realize what you’re good at. Even if you have to start small and hire an office manager just a few days a week, do it—it’s so important.”

Green Bay Elite’s coaches expect a lot from their athletes, both in the gym and in their everyday lives. In today’s text-heavy world, communication and old-school respect are the words to live by. The competitors are reminded often how their conduct reflects on themselves, their family and their program.

“We try to work in real-life lessons to the sport of cheerleading,” says Greendeer. “That’s our philosophy, teaching things through cheering that they can draw on throughout their lives. When they go out into the world, it matters how they carry themselves and how they communicate. We make it fun, but we make sure it’s respectful.”

Today, Green Bay Elite has grown large enough to boast seven all-star teams, including four travel teams, along with offering classes, camps and clinics for high school squads. Recent years have seen the Green Bay Elite teams bringing home more awards and accolades, and in 2009, the program won the “Small Gym of the Year” honor at the Worlds VIP Reception and Awards Ceremony. Two years later, Greendeer was nominated for the “Gym Owner of the Year” award.

For the coaching staff, however, it’s less about winning championships than it is seeing changes in the kids they work with.

“The growth of the sport has been really gratifying,” reflects Greendeer. “I never expected to find myself in my dream job: working with kids, watching them grow and go to college and get married, just having the opportunity to be an influence in their lives and the directions they go.”

–Janet Jay