Dianne Greenough never set out to transform cheerleading on the sidelines of the Canadian Football League.
In the 1970s, Greenough was a young phys-ed teacher at Victoria Composite High School in Edmonton.
“The girls weren’t so interested in volleyball and basketball,” she said. “They were interested in getting themselves in trouble.”
In casting around to find something that would fire up her students, she turned to dance and then to forming a cheer team.
Dianne Greenough teaches pride, passion and perfection as part of the cheer experience. (Rod Maldaner)
Enter local philanthropist and alumni of Vic Comp, Francis Winspear, who paid to have Greenough’s squad take part in an international competition in Los Angeles.
“We used white garbage bags for pompoms and clothing from a store called Woolco that doesn’t exist anymore,” laughs Greenough, “and while we were there, a team from California in another division did acrobatic cheerleading and some of the girls said, ‘I love this. I want to do it.’
“So the next stage, or journey in my life was learning how to do acrobatic cheerleading.”
From there, Greenough’s teams racked up provincial, national and international accolades.
She was instrumental in having cheer recognized as a sport by the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association and then the Edmonton Eskimos gig came along in 1996.
Free rein
Greenough recalls having free rein to explore and do whatever she wanted and she quickly saw the possibilities in what cheer could mean to the CFL experience.
President of the B.C. Lions Rick LeLacheur marvels at the contributions of Eskimos cheer team coach Dianne Greenough. (Rod Maldaner)
She took her ideas to Eskimos general manger Hugh Campbell who agreed to some wardrobe changes.
“We put the guys into golf shirts and men’s shorts and just let them be athletes and let the ladies wear something that was a little more practical for acrobatics. It started to go over actually quite well, fairly quickly.”
“Eskimo cheer team is Dianne Greenough,” said Rick LeLacheur, former Esks president and current president of the B.C. Lions.
“She can take a lot of credit and deserves a lot of credit for what she’s done. It’s not just what she’s done here for the Eskimos; Dianne has had a big role to play in the growth of cheer teams in the CFL,” LeLacheur said.
It’s part of the reason Greenough was inducted into the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
“I have learned a lot from Dianne,” said Eskimo cheer team member Samantha Burns, who has been coached by Greenough for 15 years since she was a Grade 7 student at Victoria School of the Arts.
“The number one [thing] that I’ve really held onto is that life is about the journey not the destination and that has just been a huge guiding point for me my whole life.”
Eskimo cheerleader Samantha Burns practises before a game. (Rod Maldaner)
The journey continues
Greenough said she will continue at the helm of Perfect Storm Athletics, a cheerleading gym with four locations in Alberta she founded about a decade ago.
And this week with the Grey Cup front and centre in Edmonton, she’s also taking stock of her accomplishments.
“To look around the CFL now and to see how many teams have incorporated stunting and males and acrobatic elements to it, I suppose I feel very proud,” Greenough said.
She’ll be honoured Saturday afternoon, Nov. 24, at the annual Grey Cup Cheer Extravaganza, an event she founded more than 20 years ago.
But Dianne Greenough can’t wait for kick-off.
“I love every game and every opportunity and really I’ve had the best seats in town for the last 23 years to watch football and I’m going to miss that a lot.”
The members of the Edmonton Eskimos Cheer Team practicing in the Commonwealth Stadium Fieldhouse. (Rod Maldaner)