Coaches off the Clock: Jocelyn Allan on Building a Legacy of Lifting Others

BYU Head Cheer Coach Jocelyn Allan is deeply passionate about cheer. The technique, training and execution is important, of course, but it’s the life lessons taught through this sport that fuel her dedication to it.

The cheer team trains all year for its one chance to compete in April. This means that nearly every hour of their training is in preparation to support other BYU teams in their events. Cheer is a sport that at times can be difficult, because of the lack of competition and recognition, but Allan teaches her student-athletes that there is significant power in supporting others and being truly happy for their success. This is a Christ-like role that usually doesn’t come naturally but one that Allan has dedicated her career to. 

Allan knew she wanted to be a coach since she was 12 years old. She got her first taste of coaching when her little sister’s soccer team was coachless. With her mom’s voice ringing in her head saying “don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t, because you can,” she volunteered to coach them — even though she was just 12 and the girls she was coaching were 10. 

She asked her dad to take her down to the local sporting goods store and buy her a magnetic board with the outline of a soccer field and little strips to put the players' names on. She dedicated a significant amount of time to this team, even working out plays and strategies on her board.

Her first season record as a coach set the tone for the success that would later follow. Her little-league soccer team went undefeated and won the city championship. 

Even with a robust resume and decades of experience now, Allan explained how she is not immune to feelings of inadequacy and toxic perfectionism. While reflecting on this past year, she expressed that she had to learn the importance of vulnerability and that it’s okay to have others see your imperfections.

“Battling through those feelings of inadequacy, I learned could be done by having faith that I’m enough and that God knows I’m doing my best,” Allan said.

Allan attributes much of who she is today and her core beliefs to the positive influence of her mother. Her mother believed in her and taught her that it was important to be educated and to have a positive influence on the world. Allan carries on these beliefs as she raises her own three children with her husband Warde. 

“My family are my biggest supporters,” Jocelyn said. “My family and the gospel root me.”

Allan and her husband have deep roots at BYU. It’s safe to say that there are few other people who have such a deep connection to the BYU gymnastics gym. It’s where they met as student-athletes, with Jocelyn on the cheer team and Ward on the men’s gymnastics team. Now, they both work in that same gym as Warde is the assistant coach of the gymnastics team.

“We’re back to where we started when we first started dating,” Jocelyn said. “I never would’ve believed that I would be back, but we both love BYU and what it gave to both of us, which was each other and the gospel.”

With the support of her family, and her eyes set on another national championship, Jocelyn goes into this year filled with and focused on gratitude – her “secret sauce to success.”

“If it’s not the whole answer,” Jocelyn said, “gratitude is at least part of the answer to any of life’s challenges.”