Get to know Costa Mesa cheer coach Kori Johnson

COSTA MESA, Calif. — If you think cheer is just about pom poms and standing on the sidelines rooting for other sports teams, 2022’s CIF Coach of the Year Kori Johnson will set you straight. For the last 15 years of her 20-year coaching career, Coach Johnson has been the Head Coach of Cheer at Costa Mesa High School. She has earned several Coach of the Year awards in her career, and her teams have won several championships, including 2 national titles, 3 CIF Regional titles, and a CIF State title.  Last year, the CMHS Cheer team took home the CIF State and Regional Champion titles.

Coach Johnson holds her teams to very high expectations, on and off the mat. The CMHS Cheer program has one of the highest collective GPAs on campus. She guides her team to give back to the community by organizing volunteer opportunities around the city, and they have participated in numerous Susan G. Komen events and worked with the Blind Children’s Center, to name a few.

Coach Johnson aims to break through the stereotype of the cheerleader and have the world see the Cheer team as whole human beings who care about more than popularity and appearances.

Sadly, this will be Coach Johnson’s final year at CMHS as she pursues her dream of being the Head STUNT Coach at Hope International University (HIU) in Fullerton. “We have some big shoes to fill when she retires from Mesa to continue her love of cheer at HIU,” said Sharon Uhl, Athletic Director at CMHS.

Coach Johnson is a veteran cheerleader, herself. She started in 5th grade and did cheer all the way through college. She started coaching in high school, then took a break, but returned to coaching in 2007.

She has seen cheerleading evolve and garner the respect its athletes deserve. Imagine lifting and balancing another human being over your head or being lifted and having to stand balanced in someone else’s hands. With safety a paramount concern, Coach Johnson developed and wrote the NMUSD’s policy on cheer safety and the athletic emergency policy and plans. She also has served on the CIF Advisory Board and helped cheer become a recognized sport in the state of California.

Cheerleading has now been officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee as an Olympic sport. Advocates are hopeful for a chance to participate in the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles.

Coach Johnson believes in “always being ready to pivot, you can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you handle things and how you fix problems.” Case in point, during the 2021 pandemic year, she led the CMHS Cheer team to win Nationals. “Each of our wins are incredible, but seeing the team hit and do their best and being proud of themselves no matter the outcome makes coaching worthwhile. I hope my athletes always remember how much I cared about them and their successes on and off the mat.”

Accomplishments

Among her multitude of accomplishments, Coach Johnson is unabashedly proud of putting Costa Mesa High School on the map in the world of competitive cheerleading. After all, CMHS Cheer is the only program in the nation to win Top Cheer Program twice; not to mention winning two National titles in 2018 in two separate divisions; winning Nationals during COVID; and earning three CIF Regional and one CIF State title. She started the first high school-level STUNT program in California and led the team to three league titles.  In 2017, through a partnership between the City of Costa Mesa and the Los Angeles Chargers, CMHS Cheer had the chance to work closely with the Charger girls and were featured performers during a halftime show.

Coach Johnson has devoted herself to both Costa Mesa and HIU for the past two years. She has decided retiring from CMHS will allow her to focus at HIU where she created the STUNT program for them. “There will be so much I will miss about Costa Mesa, the girls, and all the friendships with parents and other teachers, ” said Coach Johnson.

We wish you all the best at Hope International University, Coach Johnson!

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