Cheering For Madonna

A Coach's Legacy

Cheering for Madonna

Strength. Grace. Integrity. These are words not usually associated with "cheerleading". Yet they are the best way to describe Madonna and those who cheered for her. She was "a hard person who pushed you, but she got results." She pushed her cheerleaders to succeed, not only in winning national championships, but in life. She pushed them to be independent women and men of honor. She encouraged them to get a higher education. She raised them, to work hard and to put God and family first. Her influence was far reaching, through generations, as she guided by example and used life lessons to develop her cheerleaders into athletes of both physical and moral strength.

In 2012, after a short battle with bile duct cancer, "Miss Madonna", as she was affectionately called, left this earth. Cheering for Madonna is the documentary about how she shaped thousands of lives, even beyond cheerleading... and how her legacy continues.

It was 1966, just one year after the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery. Madonna Holladay watched from the sidelines as her father coached an integrated varsity basketball team to win the state championship, a first in Alabama. Following in his footsteps, she became a coach at Sparkman high school and planted a seed that has grown into one of the most successful sports programs in the country.

Madonna's cheerleaders were among the first to compete at the national level. Many of them, inspired by her, have become coaches themselves. They, in turn, have inspired a third generation of coaches. Today, over 30 national championships have come out of Madison County, Alabama.