The Albright athletic department and athletic director Rick Ferry are pleased to announce the first STUNT head coach in school history. On Thursday morning, Jamie Payne was announced as the first head coach of the Albright STUNT program and will begin her coaching duties immediately.
Athletic director Rick Ferry on today’s hiring, “After conducting a national search, we are thrilled to find a great candidate right here in Berks County. Jamie has experience building a program and has had great success getting two programs to the national level. Her proven record of success and large participation numbers make her the ideal person to start Stunt at Albright.”
Jamie Payne joins the Lions bringing with her over 25 years of cheerleading coaching experience.
“I am extremely excited and honored in becoming the Head Coach of STUNT and Cheer at Albright College. It is an incredible opportunity to lead the first STUNT team in its inaugural season,” said coach Payne. “I’d like to thank Rick Ferry and the Athletics staff for entrusting me to build this program. Bringing STUNT to Albright is forward-thinking and a unique opportunity for female athletes to showcase the athletic components of cheerleading in a head-to-head game setting. I am looking forward to this new journey in cheerleading and thrilled to begin recruiting talented and passionate future Lions.”
In Payne’s most recent role, Payne was the assistant varsity cheerleading coach at Twin Valley high school. Payne made an impact in her short time at Twin Valley successfully coaching a rookie cheerleading team to a county championship and an appearance at UCA High School Nationals to compete in the Game Day division.
For five years, Payne was the head of the cheerleading program at nearby Muhlenberg high school. At Muhlenberg, Payne coached the cheerleading team to their first ever appearances in the PIAA Competitive Spirit competition and UCA High School National competition.
While serving at Muhlenberg, Payne was also the director of Exeter youth football and cheer for seven years. With Exeter, Payne oversaw 130 total participants and 25 coaches while creating a competition section within the already established cheerleading league.
On September 18 of this year, Albright announced the addition of STUNT bringing Albright's intercollegiate offerings to 23. STUNT is a new female sport that incorporates skills derived from cheerleading. It is an exciting head-to-head game between two teams who execute skill-based routines in various categories, including partner stunts, jumps & tumbling, pyramids, tosses and team routines. To learn more on the emerging sport
click here.
