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Where were ecstatic cheers and tears of joy as the
young ladies of the Coral Reef Broncos cheerleading squad registered a
third-place finish at the 1999 Pop Warner National Competition held
recently at Orlando's Walt Disney World Sports Complex.
Members of the Coral Reef Broncos PeeWee Cheerleading Squad (l-r) are
(back row) Coach Shanna Fitton, Wilicia Hughes, Sara David, Raynarda
Harris, Lindsay Gobus, Roxanne Figueroa, Jaycee Brown and Coach Tara
Horner; (middle row) Jessica Lewis, Trista Horner, Yessica Martinez,
Brittany Wechsler, Kaitlyn Flynn, Erika Baumgarther; (front row)
Christina Cowart, Vanessa Figueroa, Christina Evans, Jenna Galardi and
Jennifer Schrage.
It marked the first time in 20 years that a South
Florida cheerleading team reached the national championships and
placed in the top three. The dedicated young ladies and their coaches
received a commemorative plaque for their efforts and returned home to
a heartfelt welcome from their community.
The two-day competition, known as the Pop Warner
Little Scholars Super Bowl World Championship, included both football
and cheerleading competition. A total of 160 teams participated.
The Coral Reef Bronco PeeWee squad competed against 16
of the top cheerleading teams from around the United States. Ten
thousand participants and visitors attended the competition,
considered an event of a lifetime for the qualifiers. The participants
were invited to stay inside the Walt Disney Park during the event and
the MGM Park was closed for an entire day for the Pop Warner group.
The 18-member Coral Reef squad and the coaches
prepared diligently for the four months leading up to the nationals.
The squad practiced four times a week, fine-tuning a series of
rigorous dance and cheer routines and many of the girls added
gymnastics workouts to the program. The team was judged on the
difficulty of the stunts, choreography and overall presentation.
The hard work culminated in a three-minute routine
that was good enough for the third-place plaque.
The Coral Reef Broncos Cheerleaders winning streak
started on November 7, when the squad competed on the local level at
the Greater Miami Pop Warner event held at the Florida International
University Panther Arena and won first place over six other squads.
The team advanced to the United States Southeast Regional competition
and traveled to Orlando on Thanksgiving Day to compete against 15
other squads from Florida, Georgia and Alabama. The cheerleaders again
won first place, marking the first time a team from the South Florida
tri-county area has ever won regional event.
Attired in the purple and gold team colors and smiling
brightly in the wake of their greatest team triumph, the girls were
radiant in victory.
The Coral Reef Broncos cheerleaders are made up of
girls between the ages of nine and 12 and represent area schools,
including Southwood, Pinecrest, Centennial, Richmond, McMillan,
Palmetto and Ammons elementary schools; and Westminster, Perrine
Baptist and Epiphany Academy middle schools.
Tara Horner and Shanna Fitton, juniors at Westminster
Christian School, have dedicated the last four years to coaching the
Bronco PeeWee Cheerleaders. Both Horner and Fitton are varsity
cheerleaders at Westminster, where Tara is captain. Their guidance and
leadership developed a winning squad with a goal to continue to have
fun cheering for the Coral Reef Bronco Football team and to prepare to
return to the nationals next year.
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