Today we’d like to introduce you to Erika Toney.
Hi Erika, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It’s quite the story! I started out as a college cheerleader at SMU, and then continued getting my Masters in Teaching at TWU. After graduating, I started teaching high school history and coaching cheerleading. I was also working in the summers for Cross Cheer, a Christian cheerleading summer camp company. When I got pregnant with my first daughter, I didn’t want to keep working so much, so decided to stay home for a while. I still coached high school cheer private lessons and at Cross Cheer. When I found out I could coach high school cheer at a private school without have to also teach, I decided that would be a great part time job! I ended up coaching at Trinity Christian Academy (for 15 years now). My two daughters were both interested in cheer, and had outgrown Cross Cheer, so I decided to start Cross Cheer Allstar. I thought I’d have a few of their friends join and we would do a little team out of a church. We had hardly any mats, but ended up with over 30 girls that first year! After two years of consistent growth, the owner of Cross Cheer and I decided amicably that our allstar cheer program was growing too big and it was time to go out on my own! So, we launched Legacy Cheer! We were operating out of local gymnastics buildings and we just kept growing! In May 2025, we took a huge leap of faith, and opened our own 12,500 square foot facility in Addison (far North) Texas. We have grown to about 300 members with about 22 coaches. We have 8 teams this past season, with a full recreational tumbling program, birthday parties, clinics, etc. We also provide an opportunity for girls with special needs to be on a Cheerabilities team. This is one of my favorite aspects of Legacy, where we believe cheer is for EVERYONE!I take seriously our mission at Legacy to provide cheer and tumbling in a Christian environment. I see our cheer gym as a family, and I desire that for others as well.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been many struggles along the way. Nothing worth doing is ever easy, but I believe there are many lessons and growth from the hard trials. I’ve had to let go coaches that don’t see the vision. We’ve had injuries, like in any elite athletic endeavor. We had major delays in permits and contractors when we were redoing our facility. Just to name a few! 🙂
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My favorite part of my job is that I have the honor to choreograph routines, dances, cut music for our routines, and see the athletes learn new skills! I wouldn’t describe myself as creative in general, but choreography is my creative outlet! While trying to fall asleep, I can come up with entire dances, stunt sequences, etc, and I love that part of my job!
Any big plans?
Three of our elite teams will be traveling to Orlando, Florida for the Allstar World Championships in April. All three teams received At-Large bids to this huge competition with around 2,000 teams from across the world. Bids are like special initiations where there is a reduced price. Our season 8 tryouts will be in May of 2026, and I look forward to an even better turnout of athletes!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://legacycheerallstar.com
- Instagram: legacycheerallstar
- Facebook: legacycheerallstar
Image Credits
Kim Piechel
