Mother-Daughter Coaching Bond: Burlington Twp

Mother-Daughter Coaching Bond: Burlington Twp

Meet Sorina Haddock and Shatasia Knight, the mother daughter coaching duo who has helped lead Burlington Township Cheerleading to years of success.

May 18, 2017 by Varsity TV
Mother-Daughter Coaching Bond: Burlington Twp
Cheer fans have shown their love for the Burlington Township High School cheerleading teams for years! But what you may not have known is that two of the coaches contributing to the success of this New Jersey program are a mother and daughter.

Sorina Haddock and her daughter Shatasia Knight are an unstoppable duo with a recipe for success.

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Sorina is approaching her 20th year as the varsity coach and was joined by Shatasia six years ago. She is also the coach of the junior varsity and Sparkle Effect teams! Before joining the coaching staff in 2011, Sorina coached Shatasia on the Burlington Township varsity team for four years. During that time, they shared four New Jersey State Championships along with top 10 finishes at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship!

We were lucky enough to catch up with the mother-daughter power team, which has contributed a large part of the success to one of the country's most successful high school cheerleading programs.

What does coaching with your mom/daughter mean to you?  null


Sorina: 
Coaching with my daughter has been an absolute joy and pleasure. It has given me the opportunity to witness the passion and drive I once instilled in her come to life. Her contributions to our program have been amazing, and I have watched her mature into a wonderful and responsible young adult. She is a dedicated coach, and you can depend on her leadership and motivation to get things done. Her ability to dedicate herself and lead others has been a great asset to our program and a great source of energy for other students and athletes to follow.

Shatasia: Coaching with my mom means the world to me. She honestly is one of the best coaches I've ever known. She's inspirational to everyone she comes across and truly loves what she does. I fill more of the role as the coach who creates new ideas with trending skills and fixes technical issues in stunts. My mom, on the other hand, is like the "guru of cheerleading." She seems to always know what to do and how to do it. She does cheerleading very well and inspires me to not only do well in coaching but in life.

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​Sorina and Shatasia ready to lead BT to success!

What is your favorite memory together?  

Sorina: My favorite memory of my daughter was when our Sparkle Team had the opportunity to perform at Nationals in 2016.  While they were performing, she stood in the front of the stage leading her team, with tears of joy flowing down her cheeks. She was so happy and so proud of their performance; you could see the joy in her face and the team gravitated towards her loving and warm heart.

It was at that very moment when I knew she was doing what she truly loved to do....
Watch Sorina's favorite memory at NHSCC 2016


Shatasia:
My favorite memory was in 2006, before I was on the team. This was the first time that BT competed at nationals in years. They had a great preliminary round performance! We sat waiting to hear if they were going to advance to semis. Instead, we got the exciting news that their scores bumped them straight into finals. In a roar of excitement, everyone screamed and cried tears of joy. Seeing my mother's face when they made the announcement was one of my proudest moments for her. She had worked so hard to get the program back to nationals, and they not only came back but they succeeded in being a finalist and one of the top 10 teams in the nation.

I was so truly blessed to be able to share that experience with her and it inspired me to want to work harder so I could put that same smile onto her face when I became a cheerleader for her at Burlington Township High School.