Meet Dr. Maria

Hi Everyone!

My name is Maria, I am a former Ohio State and USA coed cheerleader, and am now a physical therapist and strength coach for cheerleaders and cheer teams.

I have competed with USA Cheer 3 times and have won 3 gold medals from 2018-2019!

Cheerleading has taught me so much over the years, and I want to use my skills as a physical therapist and strength coach to help accelerate the growth of cheerleading and improve our sport as a whole!

Growing up, I had a lot of injuries while cheering and I did not do very much strength training. It wasn't normalized for cheerleaders to be in the weight room at my school and for all star cheer we often ran and did more cardio circuits instead. I was also afraid of getting "bulkier" as a flyer.

It wasn't until I got to college when I started a consistent and structured strength training program and started to see my skills soar and my injuries disappear.

As I learned more during my time in physical therapy school, I realized how important strength training was to reduce injuries and improve skills.

Since graduating, I have made it my mission to help more cheerleaders and cheer teams get access to expert strength and conditioning services so that they too can reduce their injury risk, improve their skills and be better than ever before!

It is time for cheerleaders to find their place in the weight-room. We are athletes too and deserve to be in there.