Cheer squad delivers national Pop Warner title
In the 50 year history of the North Fort Myers Pop Warner football program, it had never won a national championship.
Until now.
The Junior Pee-Wee cheer squad won the national championship Monday at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando for small Level 1 cheer, defeating more than 40 other squads nationwide.
They were among three North cheer programs to reach national competition. The Pee-Wee team finished fifth nationally. The Midgets finished sixth.
All four competitive teams made regionals, with only the Junior Midgets getting eliminated.
“It was wonderful. I was screaming,” screamed Rachel Best, one of the cheerleaders. “There were so many teams but we still won. I was staring at the trophy the whole time.”
“I started crying and going crazy, and then I stopped crying,” said cheerleader Sarah Kelly. “I felt nervous at first, but opened up to the experience.”
Perhaps the cheer squad’s championship is more impressive than that of football. In football, if you lose, you have a game the following week.
In cheer, your whole season comes down to a single two-minute, 30-second performance of dance and cheer that’s been rehearsed over and over for months and occasionally performed at halftime of football games. One bobble, and you’re done.
“It was hard. You have to practice everything to get everything spotless, but when we go out there, it was ‘Bam.’ We got it right,” Sarah said.
Thankfully, the team won the Peace River Conference title at Germain Arena in October, then took the Southeast regional tournament in Orlando, which had more than 40 teams competing statewide.
Cricket Kelly, cheer coordinator, said the most amazing thing about the team was their lack of experience before the season.
“These girls were all first-year competitive cheerleaders. It was an incredible journey. We have a great group of coaches, great support from our board and parents from fundraising at each level,” Kelly said.
It was the fundraising that was most difficult. It cost $2,500 per team to go to nationals, and that was just to go to Orlando, stay the night, compete and go home. No frills, no trips to Disney.
“We did miniature golf with the girls and did things around the hotel and got warm-up time. We didn’t go to Disney itself because of expenses,” Kelly said.
Despite not being able to do the things other teams did, it was still a moment Kelly and the girls will never forget.
“It was such a great experience. We’ve never had three teams go to nationals, and to have one win a national championship is great. The girls were so elated,” Kelly said.