LU Dance Head Coach Christine Ewald (left) poses with Vickey Costin and President Dondi Costin (left, right in red), her team, and Club Sports Senior Women's Administrator Angie Witt after a Flames Football game at Williams Stadium on Oct. 17. (Photo by KJ Jugar)
New LU Dance coach is a former NFL cheerleader who answered God’s call to Liberty
11/11/2023 6:30:00 PM | Dance
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Christine Ewald, whose family relocated from Colorado Springs to the Lynchburg area to follow their son and daughter at Liberty, is now shepherding the 26-member team.
Christine Ewald, who competed on the dance team at the University of Texas El Paso before her NFL cheerleading career with the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1990s and 2000s, answered the Lord's call to serve as head coach of the LU Dance team this semester.
She succeeds Kristan Ware, a former cheerleader with the Miami Dolphins who helped the program transition from the Flamettes to LU Dance last fall, in its first year as a Club Sports program.
Soon after they moved to Virginia from Colorado Springs in June, Ewald and her family met Club Sports Senior Women's Administrator Angie Witt at Impact Church in Forest, Va., where her husband, Tim Witt, serves as executive pastor. She believes it was a "divine appointment."
The Ewalds moved from Colorado Springs to Forest, Va., in June.
"God just placed her in our lives when we needed her," said Witt, who asked Ewald if she would consider taking on the position. "She said, 'I'm here to do whatever God asks me to do, and nothing happens by chance.'"
Previously, Ewald spent the past 20 years as a stay-at-home mom to her four children, a role she says equipped her to lead and nurture such a large group of collegiate student-athletes.
"I am grateful and feel blessed to be able to pass on my experience and most importantly the love of our Lord to this amazing group of young women," Ewald said. "My husband and I are in prayerful agreement about the timing of this decision and know the Lord doesn't call the equipped; He equips the called. I feel humbled to be chosen to represent LU in helping disciple the next generation of Champions for Christ."
Ewald and her husband, Steve, have a son, Josh, who is a junior studying business entrepreneurship. He transferred to Liberty from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in New York, where he was on a football scholarship as a slot receiver before being forced to give it up when he refused to take the mandated COVID-19 vaccine. Their oldest daughter, Ava, is a freshman also in Liberty's School of Business who plays on the Lady Flames' beach volleyball team. The Ewalds' younger daughter, Sydney, and son, Judah, are enrolled at Liberty Christian Academy.
Ewald was a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1993 season, when they went on to beat the Buffalo Bills for their second straight Super Bowl, and in 1994 before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2000-2002, before they won their first Super Bowl against the Oakland Raiders.
"I was fortunate to be on both squads during peak, some would say epic, seasons," Ewald said. "My time with the Cowboys was back in the glory days with Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith. It was a lot of fun and I learned so much about how to perform at a high level as well as how to serve a local community."
While with the Buccaneers in 2002, she was selected to travel as one of six NFL cheerleaders to participate in a three-week tour in Asia to bring some NFL spirit to U.S. military personnel serving overseas.
"We performed for our service members and their families throughout bases in Japan and South Korea, which was truly an experience of a lifetime," Ewald said.
She said the student-athletes on the LU Dance team are passionate about their faith and do and admirable job of balancing their academic load and daily workouts while maintaining their social and spiritual lives. The team practices four times per week out of its new studio in Candlers Station and has two early-morning strength and conditioning sessions out of the Liberty Club Sports Complex.
"In my first month as head coach, I have been so impressed at how much the girls juggle with six workouts per week while managing their studies and other priorities," Ewald said. "Being a mom of a very active household has helped me come alongside and understand how to support these amazing young ladies."
LU Dance expressed its appreciation for support raised on Giving Day in October.
Ewald, who earned her bachelor's degree in psychology, sociology, and behavioral analysis at the University of North Texas, and Steve were led by the Lord to move their family from Melbourne, Fla., to Colorado, where they completed two-year ministry certificates from Charis Bible College in May 2022.
"That was 100 percent life-transforming," Christine Ewald said. "We'd always been walking with the Lord, but understanding who we are in Christ was eye-opening."
Since taking the reins of the LU Dance team, Ewald has helped prepare the student-athletes physically, mentally, and spiritually for the pressures of performing in front of large crowds at Williams Stadium, dancing along the sidelines and on the field during timeouts in Flames Football games against Sam Houston on Oct. 5, Middle Tennessee State on Oct. 17, Nov. 4 against Louisiana Tech for Homecoming, this Saturday against ODU for Military Appreciation, and next Saturday against UMass for Senior Day.
"My first time on the field on Oct. 5 against Sam Houston was a great learning day for me to experience what Game Day looks like," Ewald said, crediting senior team captains Madison Repasky and Morgan Hezlep for helping her to catch on quickly. "Since then, the team has been transitioning beautifully."
She helped choreograph a new dance and kick-line routine to the song "Let's Get Loud" by Jennifer Lopez that debuted during a third-quarter timeout for the MTSU game.
"That was the big highlight of the evening and the crowd seemed to really love it," Ewald said. "We got positive feedback from the audience, and from (Liberty) President (Dondi) Costin himself."
The team had an opportunity to talk with President Costin after the game was over and to have a photo taken with him and his wife, Vickey.
"He has been super supportive and so has his wife, and I could not be more grateful," Ewald said.
Before next Saturday's game against UMass, which kicks off at 1 p.m., all seniors from the Flames Football team, cheerleading squad, Spirit on the Mountain band, and the five on the LU Dance squad will be honored.
"We have a super special group of girls," Ewald said. "We're just new to Club Sports last year, so we're just getting better as a team."
LU Dance also will be performing at several NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball games in the Liberty Arena, at some ACHA Division I men's hockey games at the LaHaye Ice Center, and MCLA men's lacrosse games in the spring semester at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. The team is also looking toward dancing against other universities for the first time at regional competitions in the spring semester.
"We want to represent Liberty the absolute best that we can, and are gearing up for the technicalities needed to compete at a high level," Ewald said. "The future is so bright for this team (and) we are definitely trying to do everything with excellence unto the Lord."
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterThe LU Dance team with Witt (left) and Ewald (center) pose during a Midweek on the Mountain Flames Football game at Williams Stadium.
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