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Schools

Tonka Cheerleader: 'Winning Nationals Put the Cherry on Top of My Senior Year'

Student Spotlight: Team Captain Marcy Adams shares her passion for cheering with teens with special needs.

Marcy Adams has something to cheer about off the field. 

The varsity cheerleading team at the National High School Cheerleading Championship in February.

“This win really put the cherry on top of my senior year,” said co-captain Adams.

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The Minnetonka squad is the first cheer team to bring a national champion trophy to Minnesota. Their award-winning routine can be .

Each member of the Minnetonka team received a gold medal and the coveted white satin jacket bearing the emblem “National Champions.”

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“After we won, the whole team went to Disney World,” Adams said.

Adams began cheerleading in fourth grade. She has learned much through years of cheering on the Blue and White. “Being part of a team sport has taught me a lot about working with others and communication skills,” she said.

Adams said the fast pace of the sport fits well with her high energy personality. “I love being an ambassador for Minnetonka school spirit and being a role model for young girls in our community,” she said.

Balancing cheerleading with schoolwork can be a challenge. 

“The hardest thing for me is time management, because cheer is a year round sport,” she said.

The team practices up to 15 hours per week, and Adams takes tumbling classes as well. She works on strength and conditioning in the off-season.

“I make it a priority to eat a well balanced diet and get plenty of rest,” she added.

What about people who don’t consider cheerleading a sport? 

“I invite them to sit in on one of our practices and see the athleticism it requires to be a competitive cheerleader,” Adams said. “When people tell me cheerleading isn’t a sport, I usually just laugh and show them my bruises and scars.”

Cheerleading involves a risk of injury, and Adams has had her share. “I had shoulder surgery my freshman year and was out for 10 months,” she said. “But I came back stronger. You learn a lot watching from the sideline.”

Adams shares her cheerleading passion with teens that have special needs.  Last fall, she created and coached the first Minnetonka High School adaptive cheer team, the Sparkling Skippers. The team members are Minnetonka students with disabilities. 

“I wanted to embrace inclusion in the high school,” Adams said. 

The Sparkling Skippers cheered at most home football games and won first place in three competitions. “These girls never fail to put a smile on my face,” Adams said. 

With high school coming to an end, Adams says it is a bittersweet time. “I’m going to miss my friends, but am ready to move onto the next chapter,” she said.

Adams is considering several colleges, including University of Minnesota and Western Kentucky University. 

“It will definitely be a school with a cheer program,” she said. 

She plans to major in sports management. “My ideal position would be operations and facilities management like managing a stadium or large events,” she explained.

When she isn’t studying or cheering, Adams enjoys spending time with her family, which includes parents Holly and Mike, sisters Aly (a 2003 Minnetonka graduate) and Lizzy (a freshman at Minnetonka), as well as two Labrador retrievers that Adams calls Mix and Match. The family lives in Shorewood.

The family enjoys traveling together.

“My older sister was in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica and we went there,” she said. Her family recently spent spring break in Mexico.

“I don’t speak Spanish, but my sisters do,” said Adams. “They do all the translation while we’re out of the country.”

Closer to home, Adams enjoys being with friends out on Lake Minnetonka or playing golf.   

“I also have a weakness for retail therapy,” she said, referring to shopping. Her favorite stores include J. Crew and Lola at the Mall of America and Heartbreaker in Excelsior. 

“I take any babysitting jobs I can to help fund my retail habit,” she said.  This summer, she will be a nanny for two local families. 

This fall, Adams will vote for the first time. What does she hope the next administration will accomplish? 

“World peace and jobs for my generation,” she said.

For now, Adams is focusing on the upcoming cheerleading tryouts which will determine the school's new team. Tryouts are April 27.

“The other seniors and I will be teaching the girls the material they need to know for tryouts,” said Adams. “I will walk the girls through the process.”

Because sometimes even a cheerleader needs a cheer or two.

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