TJ Bettineschi joined LIU as cheerleading head coach in 2022.
Bettineschi is a longtime member of UCA staff and spends her summers and most weekends traveling to train athletes, judge competitions and share her passion for cheerleading.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Ole Miss, Bettineschi returned home to New York in order to accept the varsity coaching position at Massapequa High School on Long Island. She coached the team, along with her sisters, to a third-place finish at the 2019 NHSCC.
While completing her master’s degree at Stony Brook University, Bettineschi joined the Seawolves’ Division I cheerleading team and competed at UCA College Nationals in 2020 and again, virtually, with a third-place finish in 2021.
In between practices at SBU, Bettineschi would drive to LIU’s Post campus to help coach and choreograph the Sharks in preparation for their 2020 season. That is when her interest and dedication to the LIU program began to grow.
In her first year of serving as head coach at LIU, Coach TJ helped to bring home a national championship. The Sharks won the Spirit Program Division at the 2023 UCA College Nationals.
