The principals of Cheer FAQs are Joel and Chris Howell. They
have been intimately involved in cheerleading through their daughter, Jamie, who is currently attending NC State
University, and is a member of the nationally ranked Wolfpack cheerleading squad. They began their cheerleading
experience and careers more than a decade ago when Jamie began cheering on a Pop Warner squad. They moved
to All Stars in 1998.
During their cheerleading careers, they have been
involved and sometimes embroiled in virtually every situation imaginable:
1. Fundraising of every description; spending years discovering
which ideas, projects and products are successful and profitable,
2. A high school environment in which cheerleading
was not considered a sport, which meant no equipment, no practice area, and no respect,
3. Working and hosting competitions at several levels,
4. Coping with the politics and hard feelings caused
by a split in their All Star gym; dealing with the acrimony caused by the coaches' departure; managing the "rival gym"
scenario; and reorganizing and contributing to the emergence of a nationally prominent organization,
5. Creating a tax-exempt parents' association; serving
on its board and contributing several of the policies and operating
procedures,
6. Implementing controls to deal with dishonest folks
who cannot keep their fingers out of the till,
7. Coordinating travel arrangements,
8. Dealing with uniform issues: design, manufacturers,
sizing and measurements, order tracking and delivery,
9. Involvement with the AAU's Junior Olympics.
Joel is an MBA/CPA who served as the money parent
for Jamie's senior All Star squad. He served as an officer in the Pop Warner program, and he is past vice president
of the All Star parents' association wherein he dealt primarily with competitions, including the Junior Olympics. In
2001, he was selected as the AAU's "Man of the Year" for his involvement in staging the Junior Olympics in Virginia Beach,
VA.
Chris is a certified coach, currently serving as the Uniform
Coordinator for both locations of their All Star gym. She is also team mom for Jamie's senior squad, having served
in that capacity almost every year Jamie has cheered. She has also worked intensely with the administration and teacher/coaches
of Jamie's high school to raise the status of cheerleading to a respected sport. The varsity squad has the distinction
of going from dead last to champion in one year. Last year, the squad became coed, and looks to have even more boys
this year.
Chris is also known for her terrific imagination and creative
abilities. She organizes profitable fundraisers; she designs the make up, the bows, the hair styles, and accessories
worn by both the varsity and All Star squads; she is computer savvy and designs many templates to track her
projects. For example, as Uniform Coordinator, she has a program that tracks every uniform item (as many as 9 items
per cheerleader) by size, by color, by cheerleader and by team. And, she is craftsy, creating many items to
be used as gifts, as part of the uniform, or sold as fundraisers.
