Berkley High School Gets New Cheerleading Coach

Diana Dildine has an eye for cheer talent.

Her skill has been honed by serving as a girls competitive cheer judge for the past five years.

Dildine plans to use that expertise and experience to help take the program to new levels in the 2011-12 school year.

Dildine has been hired to coach the Bears’ competitive cheer team – a sport officially recognized by the Michigan High School Athletic Association – in the winter season. In addition, Dildine will coach the football sideline cheer squad this fall.

“I just know what good is,” Dildine said. “Being a judge, I know what good looks like, and I challenge my students, and I know that I’m going to be challenging my girls a lot. I know they can reach that higher level, so I was kind of excited.”

Dildine takes over the cheer program for Karen Hathaway, who resigned to spend more time with her family.

While Dildine is new to the coaching staff at Berkley, she’s no stranger to the school.

She recently completed her ninth year of teaching physics to upperclassmen and geophysical science to ninth-graders at BHS. In addition, she spent the past two school years as a senior class sponsor.

“She will serve as a tremendous asset to our cheer program,” Berkley Athletic Director Ron Kane said. “She has experience coaching, being an MHSAA competitive cheer judge, and is a teacher in the building. She works extremely well with kids, wants kids to enjoy the sport and will set high expectations for the cheer program.”

Kane was familiar with Dildine’s background and approached her in the high school hallway one day about the job opening.

After being somewhat reluctant at first, Dildine changed her mind within the course of the conversation with Kane.

“It’s cool,” Dildine said. “I’m actually really excited now.”

Besides her experience working with high school students, Dildine is quite familiar to the cheer field.

She was part of the cheerleading and dance teams at Henry Ford II High School in Sterling Heights until she graduated in 1991. After serving 17 months in the Peace Corps out of college, Dildine assisted her mother as a cheer coach at Chippewa Valley High School. The family duo helped guide the team all the way to the state finals in the early 2000s.

Dildine has coached Berkley's dance squad and also judged competitive cheer at the state finals during the past two seasons, including the Division 1 showdown in 2011.

“I know what judges want. I know what judges look for,” Dildine said. “I know what’s allowed, what’s not allowed. I’m very well-versed in what looks good.”

In her spare time, Dildine still loves to dance. When she goes for long walks, she often finds herself listening to music and doing “brainstorming sessions” of mass choreography in her head.

The 16-member sideline cheer team officially begins practicing Tuesday. The squad is headed to Champion Cheerleading Camp from July 16-18 at Alma College.

The team will be expected to practice three hours a day, three days per week during the summer. When school starts, practice should run for two hours, three days per week, in addition to the weekly games. Practices will increase when the winter season starts.

'She has a lot of ideas'

Incoming senior Crystal Angel, who has been involved with the cheer teams since her freshman year, is excited about Dildine’s decision to take over the program.

“I really like it because she has a lot of ideas, and I can tell she’s going to do a lot to improve the team,” Angel said. “There are a lot of positive and good changes. This should be a fun and good new experience for my senior year.”

Having been a student in Dildine’s classrooms for geophysical science and physics, Angel knows that the changes to the cheer program will not come easily.

“She’s not afraid to push you and make sure you do your best, and you all work to your best of your ability,” Angel said. “You get motivated more when she seems like she’s motivated about what she does. That comes off in the room, and she makes me feel motivated and want to do things to improve as well.”

In addition to the skills Dildine plans to teach the girls, she said she will bring a stunt camp to the high school in August. A gymnastics coach will visit the team on Wednesdays.

Her goals for the team are lofty, but Dildine has already spelled them out to the girls.

“When you’re out there cheering, you’re there to get people engaged,” Dildine said. “You’re there to get them excited, and I want these girls to know what it feels like to be really good at something and to do well at something."

Advice: Work hard, feel good

“It’s going to be a lot of hard work, because that’s how you become good," she said. "But I want them to see the outcome of going through all the tough moments, the challenging workouts, the team building — that you can actually become really good and feel really good about yourself, and your fans can get excited.”

Dildine is a homeowner in nearby Ferndale. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, hiking, kayaking, working out at LA Fitness in Royal Oak, going to see local bands and spending time with her two nephews.

She received her undergraduate degree in dietetics from Central Michigan University, then served in the Peace Corps in Nepal. While overseas, she taught local villagers about nutrition.

When she returned to the United States, Dildine embarked on her teaching career. She received her master’s degree in teaching from Wayne State University in 2003.

Her father was a science teacher. Her mother worked in a school and coached. It’s a profession she said she was born to do.

“I never thought I’d find a job where I don’t mind getting up this early to go in,” Dildine said. “I’m not a morning person, but I’ve never really dreaded going into work. I tell my kids not to settle until they find something that they feel like that about.”