Athletes Reach New Heights at HP Alum’s Mustang Cheer

The newly-vacant space had until recently been a nightclub. The DJ booth was still up. There were glasses on the bars, and leftover food in the fridge. 

But when 1999 Highland Park alum Abby Ruth looked at it, she saw the future home of her cheerleading gym.

“I just knew right away that it was perfect,” she said. “And everyone in my party thought I was crazy that what was very much a nightclub could ever resemble anything like a cheerleading gym.”

Ruth, a former cheerleader for both Highland Park High School and the University of Texas at Austin, had resolved to open a nearby cheerleading gym on the long drive home to University Park after her daughter’s distant cheer practice.

At first, she wondered why there weren’t already gyms in the heart of the city. She quickly found out that “the numbers don’t work:” retail spaces with a cheerleading gym’s high ceilings typically have even higher price tags.

When she saw the former nightclub with its floor-to-ceiling windows and view of NorthPark Center, Ruth knew she had come across a space that had an ideal location and the potential to be “the coolest training facility in the country.”

With encouragement and support from her husband, family and friends, Ruth finalized a lease on half of the nightclub in May 2019. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Ruth executed a lease on the second half of the space.

 “I was confident,” she said, “that as soon as that space was built out and life returned to normal, that we would be able to fill the gym.”

Keeping class going at her brand new, indoor business during the pandemic, “was a great learning experience for us,” Ruth said. 

All Mustang Cheer classes immediately went virtual, and the gym sold air mats for in-home training. When Mustang could safely reopen, the athletes returned and Ruth kept the library of virtual home classes, which are now available to aspiring-cheerleaders across the country.

Today, Mustang offers about 260 classes each week in three interconnected gyms. Its staff also coach cheer at Highland Park High School and engage in outreach programs in west Dallas. Over the years, Mustang’s competitive teams have brought home multiple championships from the National Cheerleaders Association, an elite, invitation-only Summit Championship, and numerous grand championships.

But winning, Ruth said, is a secondary goal.

“We really do want the experiences of our athletes to be the greater takeaway from the program,” she explained. “So, we work really hard on creating a really neat and memorable culture for our kids that they’ll remember when their championship jackets don’t fit anymore.” 

The entire gym cheers for athletes who master new skills. At the end of every class, coaches —the roster at Mustang includes some of the sport’s biggest names — give out a “Mustang Star Award,” not to the athlete with the best skills and technique, but to the one who has demonstrated the most notable leadership qualities.

Mustang is committed to promoting a positive body image, and all athletes, from Mommy and Me to Elite, wear the same navy T-shirt with white shorts or a skort. Cheerleading, Ruth said, needs every kind of athlete, from strong bases to good jumpers and phenomenal performers.

“I’m really proud of the accomplishments of our kids,” Ruth said. “And I’m really proud to see how, through our program and through our coaches, these kids have had so many opportunities to really shine in a lot of different ways, not only from growing their skills, but also in their overall development as people.”