When Kevin Hooker and Lance Stoltenberg started Elite Cheer in 1995, they could not have imagined that their company would eventually work with more than 10,000 people. In addition to helping young athletes excel in the physical aspects of cheerleading, tumbling, gymnastics, and martial arts, Elite Cheer emphasizes the importance of supporting the community.
Elite Cheer has been in the all-star cheer industry for over 30 years. “From globing at Worlds to winning NCA titles to performing at Majors–our most profound performances have been in helping the community like showcasing at Cheersport Friday Night Live in Atlanta, Georgia, a fundraiser for St. Jude Hospital,” said Stoltenberg. “Yes, we are a community-based program that focuses on teaching life skills through our passion of what we train here. From confidence, tenacity, respect, and integrity to discipline, responsibility, friendship, and dignity,” Hooker added.
Elite Cheer’s goal is to build athletes into high functioning adults who support their communities and positively impact everyone around them. Their mission is to teach every person who walks through their facility how to shape those life lessons into adulthood and to use those challenges to thrive throughout life.
The athletes who train at Elite Cheer come from all over the metro, including Omaha, Lincoln, Council Bluffs, Elkhorn, Bellevue, Gretna, Valley, and Council Bluffs, as well as many small towns in Iowa.
Today, former students are bringing their own kids to Elite Cheer as a second generation. “We call them legacies,” Hooker said.
Elite Cheer
3405 Oakview Drive
Omaha, NE 68144
402.537.0855
elitecheer.com
This profile originally appeared in the 2024 FACES of Omaha, presented by Omaha Magazine. To see the full book, see our flipbook here.
