Twenty-one-year-old Michael Canty is a junior sports management major at Arkansas State University, a member of the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) and the new coach for Harding’s cheerleading squad.
According to senior captain Savannah Jackson, the previous coach moved to Texas after the 2013-14 season, leaving the squad without a coach for the next year. After conquering a year on its own, the squad decided it needed leadership. Jackson said the team spoke to their sponsor, Kellee Blickenstaff, and she put out word to the NCA. Canty responded and began his job as the head cheerleading coach at the beginning of the 2015 school year.
Once a week, Canty makes the hour-and-a-half drive from Jonesboro, Arkansas, to join the women for practice. Despite being the same age as some of the members of the squad, Canty said he feels respected as a leader.
“It’s nothing like I thought it was going to be,” Canty said. “I was nervous that I would come in and they would just think ‘Does he really know what he’s talking about?’ But it definitely hasn’t been that way. They have all been open and willing to listen to what I have to say.”
Jackson said she was uncertain how to feel when she heard that a male had been hired for the job, but she said that she is glad she gave him a chance.
“I wasn’t sure what to think about it when Kellee (Blickenstaff) hired him, because I’ve coached with guy cheerleaders at my gym back at home, and some of them are crazy,” Jackson said. “I was thinking, ‘How is he going to know what to do with an all-girl squad?’ I was worried what he was going to think about us, but he came in and didn’t judge us. He came in and said ‘I want to work with you and pull out the potential you have.'”
Jackson said Canty pushes the squad to reach its full potential. As they transition to becoming a more competitive team, Canty is teaching them routines that look more collegiate rather than stunts done at the high-school level, according to Jackson.
“Usually practice kind of slows down after Midnight Madness and Homecoming, but he’s got more material for us to learn,” Jackson said. “He’s got new cheers, new stunts; he’s constantly bringing in new stuff. That has kept practices interesting because we aren’t just going over the seven or eight pyramids and just leaving. He’s got challenges for us and new things for us to tackle as a squad.”
Freshman Ellie Arnett agreed with Jackson and said she is thankful for Canty’s willingness to present challenges.
“He’s hard on us, but it’s because he knows we can do it,” Arnett said. “He’s good about pushing us until we get it right because he believes we can do it. He’s confident in who we are and what we can do.”
Canty said his goal is to help the cheer program as a whole become more competitive. He said he understands the challenges of integrating an elite cheerleading program with a private institution, but that he sees the potential and wants to see it improve.
“Every week we get better and better,” Canty said. “I see more mental toughness from the girls as well as physical toughness. They are really responding and they want to help me take this program to the next level. I really don’t feel like its all me. It’s all the girls. Everything I tell them, they are putting it into action. So I’m just telling them what to do; I give all of the credit to them.”
