Christine Ewald steps into position as new head coach for Flames dance team

Stepping into the role of head coach is a big responsibility, but Head Coach Christine Ewald stepped up to the plate to strengthen and grow the Liberty University dance team in its second official season as a club sport.

In just her first season at the helm, the former NFL cheerleader has done an exceptional job in bringing the Liberty dance team to new heights. Highlights from this season include performing in the 2024 Fiesta Bowl, competing for the first time in program history and leading her team to a podium finish in the Collegiate Virtual Championship. Ewald is proud of her team and excited about her first year.

“It’s been crazy awesome,” Ewald said. “Some highlights were getting to see this team go to the Fiesta Bowl. We were told we were not going to be able to attend, but God blessed us, and we were able to attend. Just to take part in that kind of atmosphere was really awesome.”

Ewald’s extensive background makes her a perfect fit for the head coach role. She competed as an athlete herself for the dance team at the University of Texas at El Paso and was a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“I started ballet when I was 4,” Ewald said. “I did dance and cheerleading in middle school and in high school, and I followed that through in college.”

While she was in college, one of her friends convinced her to try out for the Dallas Cowboys as a cheerleader. With her family being Cowboys fans, she decided to give it a shot and ended up cheering for Dallas for years.

“We didn’t know a whole lot to expect, but God in his goodness had a plan and a purpose to be (in Dallas),” Ewald said. “After (leaving the Cowboys), I missed dancing. After I got married, I tried out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and I cheered there.”

The Lord opened up an opportunity for Ewald to coach the team, and after a lot of prayer, she felt that this was in fact a calling from the Lord.

“I think all of that experience has helped me to bring out showmanship in the girls to be able dance bigger,” Ewald said. “There’s one thing to dance and another thing to perform. We are not just dancers, but performers, and we’re athletes because we go out and compete. I felt really blessed that the Lord would take that experience and transfer it over to this.”

Not only is coaching about leading your team to do its best and perform well, but it’s also about helping its members grow as individuals and push themselves to be the best they can be. The dance team has grown rapidly in its young life, and in that growth, many coaches have come and gone, yet none had an impact on its dancers like Ewald has. 

Senior co-captains Jill Myers and Madison Repasky immediately felt the positive impact Ewald had on the team.

“She has been the biggest answer to prayer for our team since day one,” Myers said. “I didn’t really know how this year was going to go, but when she came in, it was from the Lord. She’s cared for our team since day one. She cared about us as people and as women of God before anything else, and because of that, I was never scared to mess up. She is an amazing coach and pushes us to do our best.”

A successful team has a coach who impacts not just the team as a whole, but also its individual players.

“It’s nice to have a coach that believes in you as a person,” Repasky said. “To have a coach that believes in you individually and prays over you and looks at you more than just your ability to dance is probably my favorite thing about coach (Ewald).”

With the summer semester on the horizon, Liberty sports will take a brief hiatus, but Ewald is already looking forward to the next season. She has big plans for her team and is excited to continue watching the dancers grow and improve on and off the dance floor.

Warden is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion