{"id":59947,"date":"2026-02-25T14:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T19:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/?p=59947"},"modified":"2026-03-10T10:41:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:41:28","slug":"cheering-for-service-grant-magness-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/cheering-for-service-grant-magness-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheering for Service: NCA GoBeGreat finalists led by BUSTH alumnus Grant Magness (\u201825)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Matti Trimbath (MTS\u201927)<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Update: As of March 1, 2026, the Hot Shots Dream Team was crowned the winner of the GoBeGreat Award. Full details can be found here<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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A Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) alumnus has helped propel a Georgia Cheer Team to the top three national finalists of the <\/span>NCA GoBeGreat Award<\/span><\/a> which recognizes cheer teams going above and beyond in service. Georgia native Grant Magness (\u201925) has more than 25 years of youth development experience as a youth minister and cheer coach, and while earning his <\/span>Doctor of Ministry<\/span><\/a> (DMin) at BUSTH, wanted to merge youth development through community service with the transformational leadership focus of the degree. His DMin dissertation, titled \u201cMission Is Possible: A Team-Based Model For Youth Depth Development Through Transformative Servant Leadership,\u201d argues that mission based service under four developmental pillars\u2013youth-led, spirit-driven, mission-centered, kin(g)dom-bound\u2013leads to individual, relational, and community development.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Grant Magness (’25) pictured playing guitar with the Dream Team. \u201c[I believe] when need and blessing meet in a true, authentic, relational exchange \u2026there’s really something transformative that happens.\u201d Photo by Ashlee Bailey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>While earning his Master of Theological Studies degree in the late 1990s at Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Magness began to realize \u201cnobody [was] taking a classic theological education and planting themselves in the context of a church youth ministry, and educating kids.\u201d He spent nearly 20 years working in traditional youth ministry while he coached with his wife, Rachel, at their facility. When Magness arrived at BUSTH as a student in the DMin program, it took time for him to connect his coaching experience with his ministry and doctoral work. His professors pushed him by asking, \u201cWhat is wrong in your context? What is the <\/span>ideal<\/span><\/i>?\u201d He realized his context had become the integration of his <\/span>Mission Is Possible!<\/span><\/a> service-based nonprofit and <\/span>Hot Shots Cheerleading<\/span><\/a> Center, and the ideal culminated in the \u201c<\/span>Cheer to Serve<\/span><\/a>\u201d initiative, embodying team building through team service, and <\/span>cultivating leaders for communities<\/span> led by grace.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Hot Shots \u2018Dream Team\u2019 NCA GoBeGreat Finalist team at Stars of Rome Fashion Show for ALL Abilities. Photo by Ashlee Bailey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Immediately following Magness’ graduation, Mission Is Possible! partnered with Hot Shots Cheerleading Center to introduce the <\/span>Hot Shots \u2018Dream Team\u2019<\/span><\/a> (all-star 12-18 year-old athletes) as a prototype for the \u201cCheer to Serve\u201d initiative. The \u201cCheer to Serve\u201d initiative reframes service as a team building essential with pillars of companionship, humility, and co-development. The Dream Team served as regular helpers at \u201c<\/span>The Birthday Club<\/span><\/a>,\u201d a free monthly open gym for special needs children and their siblings sponsored by the Mission Is Possible Foundation and hosted by Hot Shots Cheerleading. The goals are to offer respite for parents, to create authentic connections across ability, and to allow for peer development through youth-led activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dream Team member (right) helping with a Birthday Club participant (left). Photo by Ashlee Bailey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite originally planning a more traditional education-based youth service route early on in his career, Magness realized through his doctoral studies that his calling would be fulfilled by adding a mission-based service component to the local cheer community he already knew. \u201cThe only expectation is that we’re going to show up and serve,\u201d he says. \u201c[W]e’re not going to serve to or for, we’re going to serve <\/span>with<\/span><\/i>.\u201d With over 400 cumulative hours of service and more than 150 special needs families served from June 2025 through February 2026, \u201cCheer to Serve\u201d is projected to impact more than 200 special needs families with 600 cumulative hours by June 2026.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To add an intentionally reflective component to this work, Dream Team members engage in a 60-90 minute debriefing following all acts of service (e.g. The Birthday Club). The goal of this praxis is to share content, experience, and integration: What did you see, what did you feel, and what will you take from your encounters today? Magness has seen leadership development since integrating the program, and the Dream Team captains explained they \u201cnoticed\u2026team-wide changes in attitude.\u201d Further, \u201c[the Dream Team senior captains] believe these changes have come from the growth [they\u2019ve] experienced through service with others, especially serving with others from the special needs community, because it demands patience and grace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal of this [reflective work] is to share content, experience, and integration: What did you see, what did you feel, and what will you take from your encounters today? <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although success is not always quantifiable, the response to the Cheer to Serve initiative shows growth, diversity, acceptance, and commitment. Moving forward, Magness expressed his plans to continue and grow Cheer to Serve. \u201cI\u2019m excited to incorporate the feedback and demonstrable results from this first-year prototype,\u201d he says. \u201cThe \u2018youth-led\u2019 pillar from my time in traditional youth ministry is still important in this non-traditional approach to youth depth development [with further improvements] grounded in significant youth reflection and advice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The winner of the 2026 GoBeGreat Award will be announced the weekend of February 28 – March 2 during the <\/span>NCA All Star National Championship<\/span><\/a> in Houston, Texas.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Hot Shots \u2018Dream Team\u2019 at NCA Atlanta Classic. Photo by Ashlee Bailey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matti Trimbath (MTS\u201927) Update: As of March 1, 2026, the Hot Shots Dream Team was crowned the winner of the GoBeGreat Award. Full details can be found here. A Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) alumnus has helped propel a Georgia Cheer Team to the top three national finalists of the NCA GoBeGreat Award […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12612,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[200,203],"tags":[179,247],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59947"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12612"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59947"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60021,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59947\/revisions\/60021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}