The old saying is that two is better than one.
Wednesday night that became a reality for UCF Hall of Fame Cheer Team Coach Linda Gooch, as she was enshrined into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in a ceremony held at the Kia Center in Orlando.
Now in her 41st season leading the Knights, Gooch has led the program to four Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) national championships with the most recent earlier this year in January. The Black and Gold won their first national title in 2003, then again in 2007, 2020 and 2024. UCF also won the gameday division national championship in 2019.
Gooch has led UCF to top-10 finishes in 26 of last 28 years, including fifth in 2022 and second in 2021. For seven consecutive years, she guided UCF teams to top-three finishes from 2015-21. Additionally, UCF has multiple top-five finishes at the national championships under her direction.
She’s officially a member of the
— UCF Knights (@UCFKnights) October 17, 2024
Florida Sports Hall of Fame ✨
Congratulations, Linda Gooch! pic.twitter.com/11OpZ4ntST
Nationally recognized among her peers, Gooch is one of the most decorated cheerleading coaches all-time. Since 1984, she has led the program from the early stages of its development to the perennial powerhouse that it now finds itself.
Gooch was inducted into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022 and last season, the 2007 national champion cheer team was inducted into the hall of fame. The squad finished first in Division IA Cheer finals of the 2007 College Nationals Cheerleading and Dance Team Championship at Walt Disney Wide World of Sports, finishing ahead of Alabama (second), Kentucky (third), Tennessee (fourth) and LSU (fifth) in the final standings.
The longest-tenured employee in the UCF Athletics department, Gooch played a key role in the creation and design of UCF athletics mascot, Knightro. She also established UCF KnightMoves dance team in 1996.
A four-year letterwinner with the UCF cheer team, Gooch earned her bachelor’s degree in social science education and is married to former longtime UCF assistant football coach Alan Gooch, a 2006 inductee into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame.
Since its establishment in 1961, The Florida Sports Hall of Fame recognizes and honors Florida’s greatest sports figures and leverages this collective celebrity to promote fitness awareness, education and sports activities among our state’s youth and adults. Equally important is the promotion of the qualities of discipline and honor among sports participants.
To be eligible, Hall of Fame candidates must have been born in the state of Florida, have significant state ties, or spent a substantial part of their amateur or professional careers in our state. Nominations of potential candidates are accepted from the public at large as well as our Board of Directors and current Hall of Fame members. After a vetting process, eligible and qualified candidates are voted on by an electorate that includes the organization’s Board of Directors and selected current members of the Hall.