Millstone cheerleaders have sights set on national performance competition.
By: Lauren Burgoon
MILLSTONE Thirty-six Millstone girls will be among hundreds of cheerleaders who will descend on the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton this Sunday to showcase their best cheers and dances in an effort to advance to a national competition in Florida.
Two squads of Millstone Eagles will be out in full force in their blue and white uniforms trying to cheer their way to a first- or second-place trophy. That will buy them a ticket to the Orlando event where the best squads in the nation face off.
Qualifying for Sunday’s regional competition, where cheerleaders from five states will compete, is a feat by itself. But what makes this accomplishment all the more sweet for Millstone is that most of these girls never formed a pyramid or threw their friends up in the air in a basket toss before this summer. That’s when Millstone’s first Pop Warner league with football and cheerleading teams first took to the field.
"I find it absolutely amazing. Eighty to 90 percent of the girls who signed up this year were never cheerleaders before," said Denise Houghton, head coach of the "midget"-level cheerleading squad that is one of two teams going to the regionals. "To come as far as they have and to achieve so much is wonderful. We’re all so very proud of them. We had no idea they would come so far this year."
Fifteen midget cheerleaders, a squad of 13- to 14-year-olds, will be joined at the regional competition by 21 "junior pee wees," coached by Erica Reiser. Those girls are 9- and 10-year-olds. The town also has three other squads of different age groups. The "pee wees" cheerleading squad also entered cheering contests this year but was eliminated at the state competition on Oct. 31.
The Millstone cheerleaders have been practicing nonstop for weeks to prepare for the regional competition, Ms. Houghton said. For the girls that meant long practices in the evening and throughout the weekend. But the cheerleaders managed to get some playtime in too. Last weekend the midget squad faced late Friday and early Saturday morning practices, so the girls had a big sleepover to relax in between.
"How they’ve come together, it’s such a great thing. It’s wonderful to see," Ms. Houghton said.
This Sunday the girls will show off the fruits of all that practice. Each squad will perform a two-and-a-half minute routine of cheers interspersed with dance routines. If the squads place in the top two spots of their age groups they then will advance to the national cheer-off in Orlando later this year.
It’s a possibility that has Shannon Bednarz, 13, very excited. Shannon, a side base who lifts up other teammates during stunts, said she joined the new squad this year because several of her friends were into cheerleading. Shannon had never cheered herself but found that she liked the sport.
"I like the excitement of it and the dancing," the Millstone Middle School eighth-grader said.
Shannon said all of the Millstone Eagles cheerleaders are looking forward to Sunday’s competition.
If the squads do make it to the next step, some serious fund-raising will need to happen, Ms. Houghton said. She estimated that it will cost about $750 per girl to get the cheerleaders to Florida. The teams were already the beneficiaries of some donations and other events like a bake sale, a benefit night at McDonald’s and a fund-raiser at a supermarket are planned or are ongoing. Ms. Houghton said the squads also might get funds from the Millstone Charity Gala if there is donation money left over after a field scoreboard is purchased. The gala was held on Nov. 6.
But for now the only thing on the minds of the cheerleaders is Sunday. The girls are performing on the second day of the competition and are in the novice category. They will spend the next few days getting pumped and perfecting their routines.
Of course, all this year’s good fortune and trophies come at a price for the Eagles cheerleaders.
"They already told us we’re moving out of novice to the intermediate level next year," Ms. Houghton noted.