Julie Horine was entering her senior year at IU as a captain of the cheerleading team. The program needed a head coach.
During a conversation with Chuck Crabb, an administrator for the cheerleading program, she expressed her desire to pursue a career in coaching.
After their conversation, Horine got the job and spent her senior season at IU coaching the team as well as cheering.
“Chuck gave me the opportunity to see how it went,” Horine said. “And I guess I did OK, because they kept me around all this time.”
Horine, 48, has been the cheerleading program’s coach for 27 years. In January, she coached the all-female Crimson Cheerleaders to their fourth national championship in the last five years for Division 1-A at the UCA College Cheer and Dance Championships.
The squad has placed second or better every year since 2011.
Before she coached national champions, Horine got her start in cheerleading as a fifth grader in Noblesville, Indiana. She learned to cheer by attending clinics and watching older students.
“I had no idea that’s what I would end up doing as a career,” Horine said. “It was just a part of my junior high, high school and college career.”
As a cheerleader at IU, Horine witnessed success in many divisions of IU athletics, including national championships in men’s basketball and men’s soccer. She said it was an exciting time to be involved with IU athletics.
“It was awesome,” Horine said. “I witnessed very few losses in Assembly Hall; losing wasn’t an option. We went to bowl games all four years, and it was fantastic.”
When Horine was named coach of the cheerleading program, she was responsible for three different teams. She said she first coached at nationals with the co-ed team in 1992.
Horine said her role with the program has changed over the years. She now coaches the co-ed Cream and all-female Crimson Cheerleaders with the help of six assistant coaches, including five former IU cheerleaders.
Horine said she also does administrative work for the program, such as planning trips, meals and transportation for the teams.
Haley Daniel, junior on the Crimson Cheerleaders squad, said Horine is like a mother to her and other cheerleaders.
“If we ever need something, we call Julie and she always has the answer,” Daniel said. “She teaches you so much more than to wave your pom poms.”
Horine said student-athletes and how she works with them has changed during her 27 years of coaching.
“There’s a lot more we deal with as coaches,” Horine said. “As head coach, I spend less time coaching skills and cheerleading, and more time developing them as people.”
CarolAnnMitchell, senior on the Cream Cheerleaders squad, said the program would not be where it is today without Horine.
“Julie is Indiana cheerleading,” Mitchell said. “Indiana cheerleading is respected all around the country, and people try to model their programs after us. It’s not just because of our success, it’s how we hold ourselves and how we represent the University.”
