Cheer Eclipse Athletes in 2018.

In late December 1988, Sue Brummer started working at Andale High School as the school secretary. She also helped coach the cheer team at Andale. She worked at Andale for 13 1/2 years and coached the cheer team for 13 years. Which later on led to Sue opening her own competitive cheer gym Cheer Eclipse in Wichita. Sue loved volunteering and helping out in the community. So, when the job as the secretary at Andale High School opened up, she decided to help out and took the job. She only got about an hour or two of training before she took over the job. That didn’t stop Sue from working, she got right into learning. Sue also started helping out the school counselor by entering grades and even tracking graduation credits.  

One day the athletic director asked Sue if she’d be interested in coaching the cheer team. She had never done cheerleading before, but she had coached other sports and knew a lot about weightlifting. She enjoyed the girls on the squad and wanted to help them get better. Sue said, “I saw purpose in the team, and wanted to help them be better.” Sue told the AD that she would only take the job if they were allowed to use the weight room and have a place to practice properly. They agreed and she got the right to work coaching the Andale cheer team.

Sue went to many training classes to find out more about the sport itself. Sue said, “I fell in love with the sport immediately.” She had her cheer team in the weight room all summer just like the other sports. She had a lot of support from her athletic directors to help better the program. She did a lot of recruiting in the hallways to help build up the cheer team. They practiced year round, and Sue didn’t just teach them stunts, but also tumbling. They would practice during the school year, and during the summer. During the school year they practiced from 6:00 – 7:50 a.m., then they had to get ready for school.

Sue then started a competitive team outside of school in 2000, while she was still working her office job as well as coaching school cheer. She gathered kids not just from Andale but also other schools in the area. The team was made up of about 30 boys and girls. She trained them and they raised all their money fundraising. Every Sunday they would sell cinnamon rolls at the town churches, and they also did other fundraisers. The money that was raised they used for their uniforms, shoes, travel fees, and competition payment fees. They had one practice a week on Sunday. Sue said, “The athletes were hard workers all around.” They would travel all over to different places to compete like Texas, Missouri, California, and even South Carolina. 

One day Sue’s husband said to her, “You spend so much time coaching cheer, why don’t you start a business?” Sue decided later to start a business out of it. Sue had to put signs up everywhere to help advertise for her first meeting. She had 35 parents show up to the meeting with their kids. After that, Cheer Eclipse started on April 1, 2002. She was the only coach at the beginning, she had former graduated all-star athletes join her staff, and then started adding other coaches throughout the years. They started the season with a youth, junior, and senior teams. In the first 7 years of business they won over 75 national titles. The first year, they leased a brand new building in Goddard, yet after their first year they outgrew that gym. They then purchased and moved to the location they are at currently on Ridge Road in Wichita. 

After a year of coaching both competitive and school cheer, she decided to just do the competitive side of cheer in 2002. Sue enjoyed working her office job, and coaching school cheer yet, it was too much. Sue is competitive and loves to compete, but that’s not her favorite part. The gym is Sue’s favorite, it’s her happy place she enjoys spending time coaching her athletes and building bonds. Sue said, “If I wouldn’t have worked at Andale High School, Cheer Eclipse wouldn’t be here.” It’s what sparked Sue’s flame that made her realize how much she liked the activity and sport of cheerleading.