- Retired BYU Cougarettes coach Jodi Maxfield drew upon grit, faith and loved ones’ support during a recent battle with ovarian cancer.
- Maxfield led her BYU squad to over 20 national titles.
- The lifelong dance teacher reports being sustained during her fight with cancer by loved ones “on both sides of the veil.”
Moments after ringing the Huntsman Cancer Institute bell heralding the end of her grueling cancer treatments, retired BYU Cougarettes coach Jodi Maxfield began counting off upcoming “bucket list” items:
- Weekends at the nearby Timber Lakes family cabin.
- A “Cruisin’ with the Cougs” BYU Athletics adventure with her husband Scott.
- A Mexican vacation with the kids.
- Serving in the temple.
And, Maxfield added — misty-eyed but smiling — “We want to go back to our mission. We want to go back to England.”
The coach’s can-do attitude — always manifesting tomorrow’s possibilities today — doesn’t surprise Maxfield’s family. And it doesn’t surprise the hundreds who worked with Maxfield when she was leading the Cougarette dance team to title after title after title.
But perhaps Maxfield’s trademark appreciation for “tomorrows” climbed another level on the first day of February in a distant hospital room in Worcester, England.
It was there that an oncologist gave the legendary Cougarette coach a knee-buckling diagnosis: Stage 3 ovarian cancer
BYU’s dance-loving perennial national champ
UCLA basketball’s John Wooden won 10 national titles. Nick Saban claimed seven national football championships at Alabama. And Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma has led his women’s basketball teams to 12 collegiate national titles.
But Wooden, Saban and Auriemma are nowhere near Maxfield’s haul of national championships.
When she retired in 2020, the Midvale, Utah, native had coached the Cougarettes to 19 National Dance Alliance Collegiate Cheer & Dance national titles and a pair of United Spirit Association National Championships.
Family and friends often speak of Maxfield’s competitiveness. “And,” added her daughter, McCall Enterline, “my mom’s a perfectionist.”
The thrill of bringing title trophies back to Provo never got old for Maxfield. But above all, she’s a dance teacher. “I tell everybody that I was born to teach dance — it’s in my DNA,” she told the Deseret News, laughing.
“When I was a little girl, I was teaching dance to pretend students in my basement. It was something I always felt I wanted to do.”
Maxfield was a song leader and a member of the dance company at Utah’s Hillcrest High. She moved on to BYU, where she studied dance and was a Cougarette for three years.
Her own experience on BYU’s dance squad would be almost unrecognizable to today’s uber-competitive team.
“We wore white boots. We did jump splits and some dancing — and a lot of marching,” recalled Maxfield. “It was a very different experience than what the current Cougarettes have. There were no competitions. We mostly performed at BYU basketball and football games.”
After graduating from BYU, Maxfield returned to Hillcrest High to coach the Husky drill team while operating a dance studio. She and her husband Scott also began raising a young family of three kids — Aaron, McCall and Dustin.
Then in 1991, Maxfield was offered the job to coach the BYU Cougarettes.
“We had just started building our home in South Jordan, and I thought to myself, ‘Well, that’s a pretty far commute to Provo. Maybe I’ll coach at BYU for a couple of years and that will be good.’”
All good, indeed. She directed the Cougarettes for almost 30 seasons.
Coaching the Cougarettes: National crowns and general conference chats
Maxfield relishes remembering every competition and national title. But her most prized Cougarette memories are anchored in friendships — and the unique opportunity to direct a dance squad at an institution sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“One of the greatest things that comes out of Cougarettes is the relationships,” she said. “I have friends that I made when I was a Cougarette who are still very dear friends. We don’t get together that often, but we’re still in one another’s lives.”
Such bonds only compounded during Maxfield’s years directing the Cougarettes.
“When I was diagnosed with cancer, the Cougarettes came out in full force,” she said. “I received so many gifts and so many well-wishes and people letting me know they were praying for me. It was humbling and sweet.”
Current Cougarettes co-coach Stacy Bills was one of Maxfield’s many BYU athletes. She remembers her coach always setting expectations high for the Cougarettes.
“We’ve seen miracle after miracle.”
— Former Cougarettes coach Jodi Maxfield of her battle with cancer.
“But Jodi was also always very generous and very thoughtful,” Bills told the Deseret News. “There wasn’t a single performance or a competition where she didn’t have some sort of trinket for us with a thought to go along with it.
“I still have a lot of those little gifts that she gave us.”
Even after Bills left BYU and moved on to professional performing opportunities, her Cougarettes coach often reached out with a gift or thought. “Jodi has had a big impact on my life, even when I left the program.”
Maxfield’s also a believing Latter-day Saint, so coaching at BYU offered inestimable faith-building moments. Routine Cougarettes practices and one-on-one coaching moments often evolved into spiritual discussions.
An important annual national dance competition typically fell on the week following the church’s general conference.
“So one thing I established with the team was that on the Monday following general conference the girls would take notes,” she said. “And for that rehearsal, we’d spend the entire two or three hours just letting people share their favorite conference talks and their impressions.”
Tracing God’s hand at frightening moments
Before Jodi Maxfield ever became the coach of a perennial national title dance team, she wanted to be a missionary. “It was something Scott and I had planned since we were newlyweds,” she said. “We always knew we were going to serve a mission.”
After Scott’s retirement, the Maxfields were eager for full-time missionary service. They submitted their mission application in September 2024. Two months later, a call was issued to labor as Member Leader Support missionaries in the England Bristol Mission.
“We were thrilled,” recalled Jodi.
The Maxfields loved mission life, serving the English people “and working with wonderful missionaries and members.”
Everything changed about 10 months into their missionary service. After falling severely ill, Jodi was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The news, she said, “was devastating.”
Knowing the global reputation of the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute, the Maxfields made the tough decision to depart England and return home for Jodi’s care.
She immediately began treatment at the Huntsman Institute, including a surgery and several exhausting rounds of chemotherapy.
But even amid the fear of the disease and the disappointment of leaving England early, the Maxfields said they traced God’s hand — from the darkest moments following the diagnosis to the sunlit Aug. 20 morning when she repeatedly rang the cancer institute bell.
The skills of the Huntsman surgeons, oncologists, and nurses — coupled with the prayers and kindness of family, friends, missionaries and the BYU community — have been sustaining blessings.
“We’ve seen miracle after miracle,” said Jodi Maxfield.
The grandmother of seven had her final chemo treatment last week. “And from what they tell me, I no longer have cancer,” Maxfield said, fighting emotion. “We’re just hoping it stays that way.”
Comforting angels ‘on the other side of the veil’
Cancer is rarely a solitary ordeal. Loved ones also suffer, worry, cry, hope and pray.
When asked how she endured months of grueling chemo treatment and uncertainty, Maxfield answered that she experienced nothing alone, pointing to Scott and her adult children.
“My husband has been my caregiver extraordinaire,” she said. “He’s always been there for me — doting on me and waiting on me as I’ve gone through the side effects of chemo. He’s always there.”
Grit and strength, added Maxfield, were heaven-sent. “I have angels on the other side of the veil. Both of my parents have passed on, as well as my in-laws. And my sister died two years ago. But I have felt them with me.”
In the moments following the HCI bell ringing, Scott Maxfield called his wife “a perfectionist.” And, he smiled, “she can be stubborn.”
Those shared characteristics — stubborn perfectionism — proved pivotal during Jodi Maxfield’s cancer battle. “When we came home from our mission for cancer treatment, Jodi said, ‘I’ve got to have this be perfect,’” said Scott Maxfield.
Daughter McCall Enterline witnessed her mother tap into the same competitive vein that allowed her to excel at BYU during her far more serious battle with cancer.
“My mom wants to win, which has definitely pushed her along in her life and a lot of things she’s done,” said Enterline. “And it’s the same thing with this challenge. She wanted to be the best at beating cancer.
“I think she did a pretty good job.”
Added sister-in-law Kelli Hintze: “To have this kind of outcome is amazing. We’re so grateful. We’ve prayed for this day and hoped for this to happen. To have it be here is awesome.”
