In 2010, Lisa Aucoin met Rick Rodgers at Future Cheer Nationals in England. He was a wheelchair user with a vision: partner stunting should be accessible to athletes with disabilities. Most people dismissed the idea. Lisa saw possibility.

The following year, at the 2011 ICU World Championships, Rick showcased the first wheelchair partner stunt on an international stage. Behind the scenes, Lisa used her influence to make it happen. She introduced Rick to the right people. She taught him how to navigate the networks of international cheerleading federations. She opened doors.

Fast-forward to today: Paralympic cheerleading is now recognized by the International Cheer Union and practiced in at least eighteen countries. The first Paralympic-eligible cheerleading team exists. And most people in the sport have no idea Lisa helped build that foundation.

Chantal Epp, who now leads disability-inclusive cheerleading globally and is launching that first Paralympic team, knows the truth. “If it wasn’t for Lisa meeting Rick and helping him get started with ParaCheer, I wouldn’t be here today growing disability inclusive cheerleading in several countries around the world,” she says. “Without her belief and support in one individual, none of this would have happened.”

Since 2018, Lisa has served as a trustee for the UK charity Cheer for Everyone (formerly ParaCheer International), supporting the development of disability-inclusive cheerleading internationally. It’s the kind of work that doesn’t generate Instagram posts or conference keynotes. It’s quiet, strategic, values-driven leadership. And it’s exactly who Lisa is.

For thirty-three years, Lisa Aucoin has been coaching cheerleaders. For the past two decades, she’s been coaching the people who coach cheerleaders. And in the process, she’s become one of the sport’s most influential connectors—building networks, creating opportunities, and lifting the entire ecosystem in ways most people never see.

The Helper’s Heart

Lisa started coaching at fourteen. She didn’t have formal training or years of competitive experience. She just had a heart for helping and a group of young athletes who’d been cut from older teams and needed someone to believe in them.

“My parents were helpers,” she says. “So that’s what I became.”

That philosophy—helping people, creating space for those who’ve been overlooked, believing in potential others don’t see—has guided her entire career. Early on, she taught anywhere she could: parks, churches, recreation centers, military bases. She wasn’t chasing elite programs or prestigious titles. She was teaching cheerleading to anyone who wanted to learn.

When she started coaching internationally, she brought that same mindset. “Everyone who does this sport matters,” she says. “We all love cheerleading and no one gets to love it more or better than anyone else.”

Rick Rodgers saw that immediately. “Lisa supports people,” he says. “She’s a true cheerleader in everything she does. She always supports both the top teams and the underdogs, and she very smartly adjusts her pricing to be as inclusive as possible, especially when working with teams outside America where the industry looks very different.”

That inclusivity isn’t performative. It’s structural. Lisa builds her systems—her pricing, her conference model, her teaching approach—to be accessible. Because if you really believe everyone matters, you make sure everyone can participate.

Ali Moffatt, co-owner of Cheer Sport Great White Sharks and one of Lisa’s longest coaching partnerships, describes her simply: “She has the ability to make people believe that they can do things.”

That’s what she did for Rick when wheelchair stunts seemed impossible. That’s what she does for coaches around the world who believe they can teach world-class cheerleading. And that ability to make people believe has changed the trajectory of the sport.

The Connector

Lisa’s influence is built on relationships. Not transactional networking, but genuine connection that turns chance meetings into decades-long partnerships.

In 2007, she bumped into Canadian friends at Worlds. That conversation led to an eighteen-year coaching relationship with Cheer Sport Great White Sharks—six World Championship rings and counting.

In 2008, Lisa traveled to England for Future Cheer Nationals—her first international gym experience outside of North America. The trip became the turning point in her career. She has worked with programs like Ascension Eagles, who is under the leadership of Angela Green, and connected with Tessa and Ian Crow, owners from Future Cheer, who would each become lifelong mentors. But more than the individual relationships formed that week, something deeper shifted.

Working with those programs, Lisa realized something pivotal: what she had to offer could translate to cheerleading in any country, regardless of level or experience. The approach was universal. The need was global.

Tessa Crow from Future Cheer reflects on the significance of that first trip: “We were their very first international gym experience outside of North America. I think after working with us they realised that what they had to offer could translate to cheerleading in any country regardless of their level or point in the cheerleading journey that any country was in at that moment.”

That realization launched everything. Lisa began building what would become a global education model. The relationships formed in England became the foundation for an international network that now spans fifty-five countries.

She met coaches from Unity All-Stars at Flight School London. That relationship helped support Unity’s growth into one of Europe’s largest programs.

At a competition in Paris in 2010, she held a special event for a delayed team from Helsinki. That gesture started a fifteen-year relationship with Funky Team Finland and introduced her to Mija Schrey, who became the first non-USA World Champion partner stunter.

On a cruise vacation in Italy, the Italian Cheerleading Federation messaged her. She took a two-hour drive with a non-English-speaking driver to teach a camp. That turned into a decade of work in Italy and the country’s first international team.

These weren’t strategic business moves. They were moments of saying yes. And Lisa has a gift for turning those moments into movements.

Those international relationships aren’t maintained through annual visits. Ryan Sundquist, who’s worked alongside Lisa for years, has watched her wake up in the middle of the night to FaceTime friends on the other side of the world who are in practice, helping them rework a pyramid or stunt section in real time. Time zones don’t matter. When people need her, she shows up.

Jonathan Lewis, who’s coached teams internationally with Lisa, sees it clearly. “Lisa strategically analyzes the history and progress of our sport through a global lens, always looking and finding ways she and others can continue to connect and make a positive, lasting impact.”

Rick describes her as a network weaver. “She has collected such an incredible network of minds that if she doesn’t have a solution to something, she’ll find someone who does. Lisa has an incredible eye for up-and-coming individuals and uses her influence to create opportunities for those individuals to share their expertise and enrich the whole industry.”

That’s exactly what she did for Rick. She didn’t just support his vision for adaptive cheer—she introduced him to the people who could help spread it. She taught him and Chantal how to work within the systems of international federations. She gave them the roadmap.

“Lisa showed Chantal and me how to work within the networks and systems of cheerleading National Federations around the world,” Rick says. “She introduced us to people who could help us spread the word and supported our mission before anyone else knew where it would take us.”

Spring CDT: Coaching the Coaches

Following that 2008 realization in England, Lisa started noticing a problem everywhere she traveled. Coaches around the world were teaching outdated versions of cheerleading—techniques that had evolved or been proven unsafe, but were still being passed down because international coaches didn’t have access to current education.

Lisa founded Spring CDT as a solution. What started as a reunion of friends who loved teaching became a global education model that has literally changed the landscape of competitive cheerleading.

“When you coach the coaches, you can amplify your efforts far beyond a single athlete, team, or program,” Lisa says. That’s the philosophy behind the conference: create a safe space where coaches can learn without fear, ask questions without judgment, and walk away with knowledge they can take back to their gyms.

Under Lisa’s leadership, Spring CDT has become more than an education conference. Ryan Sundquist, who’s attended for over a decade, puts it plainly: “It has literally united the cheerleading world, creating friendships and relationships that transcend competition and business. It’s more than just a conference for people who attend—it has changed the landscape of cheerleading for those willing to take the pilgrimage.”

That global reach is real. Entire gyms of coaches huddle around one computer on the other side of the world, learning from the best across the entire globe—not just the US and Canada. Lisa has spearheaded every detail: booking space and hotels, marketing, securing speakers and sponsors, creating opportunities for coaches, clinicians, music producers, and vendors to expand their reach.

Ryan has never seen anyone leave a conference without “a notebook filled front to back with notes, phones filled with videos and contacts, and huge smiles on their faces.”

What makes Lisa effective as an educator isn’t just technical knowledge. It’s her adaptability. Rick Rodgers notes that she adjusts her intensity, focus, and style to each room she finds herself in. She reads the culture, the language barriers, the experience levels, and meets people where they are.

Rick calls Lisa “an incredible orator.”

“It always blows my mind listening to her teach,” he says. “She just needs a couple of notes on a phone to enable her to fill a space with golden insights.”

Chantal Epp echoes that. “She teaches with such clarity and always finds a way through a challenge. She speaks calmly and clearly to get through to those she speaks to.”

Lisa travels three hundred days a year teaching. She’s worked in fifty-five countries. And the ripple effect of that education has raised the quality of cheerleading globally.

Rick puts it simply: “She openly shares her knowledge and understanding, which brings up the quality of the whole ecosystem. With Lisa, her education and systems aren’t there to lift her up—they’re there to support others. And through that, she will always excel.”

Excellence Through Details

One thing that sets Lisa apart is her obsession with fundamentals.

Rick describes it perfectly: “She wants everything perfect—not just relying on incredible stunts, but perfect positioning, unity, and motions throughout. That brings up the quality and scoring much more than any one slightly more difficult stunt ever could.”

That obsession with quality shows up in ways most people never see. Ryan Sundquist has watched Lisa stay awake during red-eye international flights, reviewing video from teams she coaches, teams she’s worked with, and even friends’ teams—breaking down skills, execution, and transitions from a World-level judge perspective. Her insightful comments on even seemingly flawless routines give coaches the tools to drive scores up before competition.

It’s a philosophy that elevates programs. Instead of chasing harder skills before the foundation is solid, Lisa builds athletes who understand why technique matters. She teaches the principles, not just the patterns.

Chantal says she’s always learning when she talks to Lisa. “Most recently, I really loved hearing how Lisa connects with young athletes and am trying to take my learnings from that into my own coaching.”

That connection is authentic. “Lisa always makes such an effort to connect with each and every athlete she coaches,” Chantal says. “She really cares in an authentic way whilst still holding her boundaries strong to get the job done.”

Finding Her Authentic Voice

For years, Lisa tried to coach the way she thought successful coaches coached. She watched the big male coaches at elite programs and tried to emulate their intensity, their toughness, their approach. But something felt off.

“I realized at my core, I’m a relationship coach,” she says now. “And when you know better, you can do better.”

That shift—from trying to fit a mold to owning her authentic style—changed everything. She stopped apologizing for leading with connection and started building her methodology around it.

That relationship-first approach doesn’t mean Lisa avoids hard truths. Tessa, who’s worked with her for over fifteen years, says it plainly: “She tells the truth—even if it’s not always what you want to hear.” It’s a balance she’s mastered: caring deeply while holding people accountable.

Jonathan Lewis, who’s taught alongside Lisa often, sees another dimension of her coaching: her ability to enhance the psychological side of the sport. “She skillfully knows how to enhance and improve the psychological intangibles in athletes with a masterful dance of humor and analogous life-skill anecdotes,” he says.

That psychological coaching came into sharp focus during a Spring 2025 trip to Australia. Jonathan was working alongside Lisa and a colleague, preparing three teams for Worlds. One team completed a showcase performance for their gym community. The run didn’t go well. Mentally, they’d fallen apart.

During the feedback session, Lisa asked the team directly: why did you make those mistakes?

They gave responses. Excuses, mostly. Things outside their control.

Lisa stopped them.

“She instantly recognized—and sternly made them aware—that they were giving excuses for their mistakes outside of their own accountability,” Jonathan says.

The shift was immediate. The athletes had a light-bulb moment. Their perspective changed. Their motivation was redirected. And their mental trajectory prepping for Worlds had completely transformed.

“Solution-minded personal responsibility is a consistent thread in her coaching,” Jonathan says. “That immediate shift in fostering a champion mindset was so powerful. It had a huge impact on the athletes, but on me as a coach and choreographer as well.”

Ali Moffatt, who’s coached alongside Lisa at Great White Sharks for eighteen years, calls her “solution-focused.” When problems arise, Lisa is her top go-to. “She spends hours and hours talking to people and helping them with whatever problems they have,” Ali says. “Her advice is always well thought out. It hits home. It has helped direct me in lots of ways, both in sport and personally.”

Chantal learned that from her. “Lisa has taught me so much as a leader just through watching her work her magic in and outside the gym. She has helped me navigate challenging relationships and taught me to always hold my integrity no matter what challenge I am faced with.”

The Personal Touch

For all her global reach—fifty-five countries, hundreds of programs, thousands of coaches trained—Lisa hasn’t lost sight of the individual.

Years ago at Spring CDT, she found poems and phrases printed on cardboard and connected them to her friends. Twenty-five different people. Twenty-five individual poems, each one chosen specifically to capture that unique relationship.

Ryan Sundquist still carries his in his bag every day. “The thoughtfulness and effort it took to accurately and completely encapsulate her individual and specific relationships with over twenty-five different people speaks volumes,” he says. “It’s a constant reminder of one of my dearest friends.”

That attentiveness extends beyond thoughtful gestures. Ali Moffatt sees it daily. “She’s an empathetic, huge-hearted leader. People are drawn to her. She’s funny,” Ali says. “She has the ability to make people feel seen and be a safe space for them to grow and flourish in whatever capacity.”

Ryan calls her “incredibly smart, witty, thoughtful, observant and a most loyal friend.” But perhaps the most telling detail is the simplest: she wakes up in the middle of the night to FaceTime friends in practice halfway around the world, helping them rework a pyramid. She stays awake on red-eye flights reviewing video for teams she doesn’t even coach. She spends hours problem-solving with friends who need advice.

Her global impact isn’t built in spite of personal relationships. It’s built because of them.

Jonathan Lewis sees it in how she works. “The combination of Lisa’s oratory and community organizing skills, her genuine love of cheerleading, and her limitless generosity and care for others is what makes her a powerhouse,” he says.

That generosity creates ripples. When people feel seen, valued, and believed in, they show up differently. They reach higher. They take risks. They believe they’re capable of more than they realized.

That’s what she did for Rick Rodgers when he wanted to showcase wheelchair partner stunts. That’s what she does for coaches who huddle around computers on the other side of the world. That’s what Spring CDT creates: a space where people believe they can learn from the best and become better themselves.

Resilience

The past few years tested Lisa in ways most people don’t know about. Chantal Epp watched it happen.

“One of the things I most admire about Lisa is how strong she is,” Chantal says. “She can overcome any challenge that comes her way and she does so with such stride. I have watched her resilience grow, her ability to show up in the toughest times, and her leadership shape those around her to be better.”

Tessa, who’s known Lisa for over fifteen years, puts it simply: “The years and experiences haven’t always been easy. However, Lisa has continued to be a voice for the international cheerleading community and her friends.” She didn’t retreat. She didn’t go quiet. She showed up.

Ali Moffatt, who’s known Lisa through those challenges, adds: “Through the ups and downs, she’s always remained positive and always kept her love of cheer really at the core of who she is and her love of coaching.”

During that season, Lisa’s athletes showed up for her. They helped her through anxiety. They surrounded her with love. And in the process, they taught her something she’s now teaching others: integrity matters no matter what challenge you’re facing.

She showed up. She coached. She led. And she came through it stronger.

The Ripple Effect

Today, Rick Rodgers leads disability-inclusive cheerleading globally. Chantal Epp is launching the first Paralympic-eligible cheerleading team. Adaptive cheerleading is recognized by the ICU and practiced in eighteen countries. Countless coaches trained through Spring CDT are now teaching in their own communities, passing on what Lisa taught them.

Jonathan Lewis carries her accountability framework into his own coaching. Chantal applies her lessons on integrity and connection. Rick uses the network strategies she taught him to continue expanding access. Ali draws on her solution-focused problem-solving when challenges arise at Great White Sharks.

Ryan Sundquist still carries that poem in his bag—a daily reminder of a friend who sees people as individuals, not an audience.

This is Lisa’s real legacy. Not the six World Championship rings. Not the fifty-five countries. Not even Spring CDT.

It’s the people she believed in before anyone else did. The doors she opened. The networks she built. The coaches she trained who are now training others. The athlete in a wheelchair who had a vision for partner stunting and needed someone to say yes.

Margaret Mead wrote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Lisa Aucoin is proof. For thirty-three years, she’s been quietly connecting people, creating opportunities, and lifting the entire ecosystem. Most people don’t know she helped build Paralympic cheerleading. Most people don’t know about the pricing structures she’s designed for accessibility. Most people don’t see the network of coaches around the world teaching better because she taught them first. Most people don’t know about the middle-of-the-night FaceTimes or the red-eye video sessions or the hours spent problem-solving with friends.

But the people who do know—the Ricks and Chantals and Jonathans and Alis and Ryans and Tessas and countless others—they’ll tell you the same thing:

Lisa Aucoin is a helper. A connector. An advocate. And one of the most influential educators the sport has ever had.

She just does it so quietly, most people never see it happening.

Ali Moffatt is already looking ahead. “I’m so proud of everything she’s built. I can’t wait to see what she achieves next in the next chapter. I just know it’s going to be awesome and I know it’s going to reach many, many more people. And everyone is so lucky to have Lisa in their lives.”

Tessa, sums it up: “We could all do with a Lisa in our life.”

Someone who shows up. Someone who believes. Someone who connects. Someone who tells you the truth even when it’s hard to hear. Someone who champions others. Someone who changes the world one relationship at a time.

The helper’s heart that started at fourteen is still beating. The network is still growing. The doors are still opening. And somewhere right now, Lisa is probably awake on a red-eye flight, reviewing video for a team on the other side of the world, making sure they’re ready for their next competition.

Because that’s what helpers do. They show up. They believe. They connect.
And they change the world one relationship at a time.