In photo: Back Row: (Left-Right) Coach Andrea Loewen-Rodriguez, Alyssa Rodriguez, Blair Borneman, Julia Pascoe, Olivia Scott, Coach Alicia Smith, Alexis Filippone
Middle Row: (Left – Right) Adi Azoulai, Sarah Kirby, Kellie Hayes, Ellison Starnes, Aliya Bolt, McKenna Smith, Kaitlin Mohler, Viviana Gil
Front Row: (Left – Right) Palomar Cheer Director Amy Leon, Olivia Krzyston, Annalise Castro, Jenna Agbulos, Mari Hoffman, Olivia Fuller, Stephanie Silva
Congratulations to The Torrey Pines Pop Warner (TPPW) Jr. Midget Falcons cheer squad!!! They made history last week placing 1st place and capturing the National Championship title at the Pop Warner Super Bowl National Cheer & Dance Competition held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, FL. This is the first National Championship win ever for Torrey Pines Pop Warner and just the 2nd National Championship in Pop Warner history for the WESCON Region including Southern California, Southern Nevada, Utah, Hawaii and Arizona.
The TPPW Jr. Midget Falcon cheer squad, led by head coaches Alicia Smith (former Charger Cheerleader) and Andrea Loewen-Rodriquez, won 1st Place in the Intermediate Medium Cheer Division and were amongst the 400 Pop Warner Cheer Squads representing the best of the nation’s 180,000 Pop Warner Cheer & Dance Participants. For a cheerleading squad, the difficult road to the Pop Warner National Championship includes placing first or second at the local and regional competitions. The TPPW Jr. Midget Falcons won 1st place at the local Palomar Conference in October at SDSU and then went on to another 1st place win at the Regionals in Long Beach the end of November. A week later they flew to Florida to compete against the best of the best and cheered their way to become the National Champions.
They were judged on their competition routine which included a combination of cheering, advanced tumbling (back tucks and multiple back handsprings), stunting (pyramids, basket tosses, and scorpions), motion techniques and jumps as well as their dance portion and overall appeal. The Intermediate division is a more advanced and difficult division and they competed against phenomenal teams from all over the nation.
“I am beside myself with joy for these girls,” said Head Coach Alicia Smith (who was recently crowned 2011 Palomar “Coach of the Year” for Jr. Midget ). ” This has been an amazing year for our team. We’ve worked so hard to get to Florida and now we’re the National Champions. It has been such a group effort by our entire team and coaching staff and I know we will all cherish these memories forever.”
It takes many hours of practice to be a competitive cheer squad. The team started practicing in early August with 4 days a week cheering and conditioning and cheered at games for the TPPW Jr. Midget Falcon Football team up until November. They went down to 2 hour practices 3 days a week once school started. In addition, many of the girls on the team put in more hours by taking private tumbling classes. One of the highlights of their routine included advanced tumbling with 16 back tucks (the most done in their Intermediate division at Nationals). The Jr. Midget team is comprised of 11- 13 year old girls in the 6th – 8th grades in Carmel Valley and Rancho Santa Fe. The team not only worked hard at cheerleading, but spent many hours fundraising to raise money for their team and their travel to competitions. They recently designed a t-shirt and got sponsors from local businesses to contribute. The sponsors names are on the back of their t-shirts with their team motto “One Team, One Dream.”
TPPW Board Member and Cheer Coordinator , Christy Mohler, couldn’t be happier their dreams came true. “This historic Championship win represents not just the hard work of these incredibly talented athletes and coaches, but also the support of our many TPPW volunteers and families, sponsors and community. As a non-profit, 100% volunteer organization, many wonderful people and businesses stepped up to help this team make their dream a reality.”
Torrey Pines Pop Warner (TPPW) is a nonprofit youth football and cheer league dedicated to providing an opportunity for children to experience participation in football and cheerleading in a structured league environment. The boundaries of our league include Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar and Carmel Valley (Torrey Pines High School Boundaries). For information about the 2012 registration , please see www.torreypinespw.com.
*** Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., was founded in 1929. Pop Warner is the largest youth football, cheer and dance program in the world, serving over 425,000 athletes, and is the only national youth sports organization that requires scholastic aptitude to participate. ***
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