This season was productive and positive – even in a transition. Cathedral High School cheerleading in 2025-2026 underwent a coaching change. That meant a bit of a new direction, with positive results and a strong future. “It was a year of growth, compromise and learning,” Brieann Toste said. Irish Cheerleading in Toste’s first season as coach emphasized cheering for teams and school support, competing in the Time-Out division in the Indiana Cheer Championship. The season was largely about growth, with Toste and the rest of a five-member coaching staff all new to the program. Cathedral Cheerleading in ’25-26 also accomplished two service projects, Wheeler Mission at Christmas and Feeding America in the fall. The program also supported the Down Syndrome Walk hosted by Indiana Down Syndrome. “Everywhere I’ve coached, high school or junior high, I always wanted my athletes to give back in some way, shape or form – and every year, that looks a little bit different,” Toste said. “To be a good human, you look at the needs of others, so I was really proud we were able to do both of those things, and to support the school and the events.” Toste called the ’25-’26 season one of compromise, with the new coaching staff learning Cathedral and the athletes – and the athletes learning a new, experienced coaching staff. “The compromise, I think, was the coaches as well as the athletes trying to really this year just get to know one another,” Toste said. “It was kind of hard going in blind, not knowing traditions and expectations. Every school's traditions are different, and traditions change over time. “That was where some were missed this year, not intentionally, and some were maybe tweaked, but you don’t know what you don’t know until it’s done.” Irish Cheerleading in ‘25-‘26 featured a strong group of seniors leaders that helped the program to new direction. “The girls handled it with grace and dignity,” Toste said. “There were several who, when they felt that we needed to know something, came and talked to us respectfully and shared their perspective. The girls handled it extremely well. “I'm very proud of proud of all the classes, but especially the senior class because it was hardest for them. You're used to something for three years, the timing was difficult. Change is hard for anybody. Humans struggle with change. “Even as a coaching staff, the five of us have known each other in the industry for years. We’re a very experienced coaching staff, but we haven't coached together before.” The ’25-’26 Irish also had a smaller than-usual freshman class, with all freshmen on the jayvee squad rather than forming a separate freshman team. “There are so many things going forward that we would like to build upon,” Toste said, saying a priority moving forward is “building stronger bonds within the team, getting next year’s sophomore class more involved.” “It was too small of a team to have a true freshman team,” she added. “We'd like to go back to that tradition next year of having a freshman team, a JV and a varsity. Again, the athletes did a great job compromising. The sophomores embraced the freshmen and made them all one team.” The focus moving forward is strong communication and continued growth for a proud and tradition-rich program. “We want to be able to say from tryouts forward, ‘Here's the expectation, here's where we're headed. Here's our goal. Here's our vision and everyone be on the same page.’ “We’ll start off the year with all the expectations clear and really focused on building a team that's close.” Toste said the strong future direction was made possible by a group that made the first season of a new leadership group memorable – and one of growth. “This was an amazing group of young women,” she said. “Anytime something needed to get done, there was always someone there to do it – just across the whole board, we were getting to know each other. “Now we have a year under our belt, and we move forward.”