The new director

of cheerleading at Gym South in Fayetteville brings to town a background

that includes some of the top honors in the sport and a remarkable comeback

from a devastating tragedy.

Chad Houck's

career at the State University of West Georgia reached its pinnacle in

January of 2002 when the team won the Division II national championship

in Orlando. The competition was televised nationally on ESPN. The team

successfully defended its title this year, and although Houck was no longer

competing, he helped coach the squad.

He began his

new duties at Gym South Aug. 11 after earning a master's degree in organizational

development from UWG. He did not have to go far from home to find a permanent

position, as he is a graduate of Mt. Zion High in Jonesboro, where he

competed in football, wrestling and soccer.

Initially recruited

out of high school as a collegiate wrestler, he saw that goal derailed

due to injury. So as he and a friend were attending the annual fall orientation

for new students at UWG in 1997, he stopped by a booth sponsored by the

cheerleading squad and was talked into trying out. "I just kind of

picked it up going into college," he said.

He could not

have possibly imagined what lay in store for him. Just a couple of weeks

after he joined the team, he was riding in a van on his way to a camp

in Augusta, part of a two-van convoy on a darkened I-20 in the wee hours

of the morning. While he slept, the van he was riding in blew a tire and

flipped over, killing its driver (the squad's head coach) and two members

of the team. Houck found himself in a hospital for two weeks with assorted

injuries, although he will quickly point out that he was very fortunate

to escape more serious injury.

To even field

a squad after such an event would be enough of an achievement, but to

win a national championship in four years is simply amazing. Houck remains

with the team as a coach, spending two days a week in Carrollton in addition

to his new duties at Gym South.

The management

at Gym South evidently recognized the level of the UWG program, as they

called the school to inquire about available coaches. That's how they

found Houck and he got the job.

His schedule

in Fayetteville will be an especially busy one now that school is back

in session. In addition to the various classes in Pee Wee through Level

4 more than 50 kids ages 6-18 nearly a dozen high school cheerleading

squads from Fayette, Henry, Clayton and Coweta counties will come to Gym

South each week for specialized training. Houck will also begin developing

an all-star program at Gym South very soon.

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