BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer
SCOTT FRIEDMAN Lauren Libou (far right) and Khristina Criqui (seated) focus on the direction of their coaches during practice for the North Brunswick Indians Pop Warner Cheerleading Squad. The two girls are part of Challenger Cheer, a program designed to integrate physically and mentally challenged cheerleaders into the team. Hello to you from the blue and white.
I’ll stop at nothing to put up a fight.
I have a team that can’t be beat.
Sit back and get ready for defeat.
North Brunswick Indians can’t be beat!
The “Hello” cheer for the North Brunswick Indians Pop Warner Cheerleading Squad is particularly appropriate for Khristina Criqui and Lauren Libou, two members of Challenger Cheerleading who have joined the squad this year.
Both girls have developmental disabilities, with Khristina who has cerebral palsy and Lauren who has apraxia, which affects her communication abilities. The special Challenger program provides an opportunity for them to be active, make new friends, assimilate themselves into ordinary, everyday activities, and limit their limitations.
“I saw a girl that was a cheerleader and I said, all right, I want to be a cheerleader,” Khristina said. “I think it’s fun.”
Sue Simmons, who was the cheer coordinator for the Adams Athletic Club Pop Warner program and a coach at North Brunswick Township High School, decided to implement the Challenger program in North Brunswick last year to complement the Central Jersey Pop Warner Challenger Squad.
“They’re doing great. Khristina does what she can do. She can’t do the jumps of course [in her wheelchair], but she can do the twirls and do the moves … and Lauren, just in a couple of days, has picked up half a cheer already,” she said.
Khristina joined the squad last year, adding to her impressive list of activities she already participates in, including acting, singing, dancing, playing the guitar and flute, and swimming. She said that during last year’s season, the other girls on the squad fought over who was going to wheel her around. She said the cheers are not hard to learn but that it’s a lot of work, but she likes watching the flag football teams play.
She said other girls should join “so they make friends and have fun.”
Lauren, who is new to the squad this year, is becoming accustomed to the atmosphere. Her mother, Sara, said that the 6-year-old swims, dances and does gymnastics because she wants “her to take care of her body and be involved with her community and know people here.”
Libou said Lauren saw some girls cheerleading during gymnastics and she seemed interested in it, and since it is a short commitment, she wanted to try the program to see if it was right.
“She thinks it’s fun, [and] she wants to come. Sometimes it’s hard to get her dressed, but with this, when I say, ‘Do you want to go?’ she says yes.”
Libou said she exposes her daughter to both special-needs and “typical” activities because “I want her to have interests and hobbies. With special-needs kids, they don’t necessarily curb their behavior as much, but with typical kids you get feedback, which is a good thing.”
However, to enhance the cheerleading program, Libou believes an educational component should be added to Challenger Cheer in order to teach tolerance, acceptance and awareness to the other children. In the meantime, Simmons said she tries to give 100 percent of her attention to Lauren and Khristina, and she hopes they, as well as other girls who decide to join the Challenger squad, enjoy themselves.
“I think they’re learning more just by watching each other, and being part of a team is most important, and to me, as a coach, that’s what I try to bring to the squad, making them a team,” she said. “These children are very talented … and when you see what [they] can do, it’s a shame for [them] to miss out on this.”
The girls practice three nights a week until Labor Day for an hour and a half at Sabella Park and then one hour indoors during the football season. They are equipped with uniforms and pompoms and cheer at the flag football games on Sunday mornings.
Simmons is looking for more Challenger cheerleaders in addition to more parent volunteers. She is Rutgers safety-certified and trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid. Anyone interested in joining can call her at (732) 247-5638.