Wednesday, Jan. 06, 2010

Cheer team leaps to nationals

Taija Pryor, 11, has definite ideas about what cheerleaders are and what they are not.

"Being a cheerleader is more than pretty skirts and smiles," she said. "A lot of people think cheerleaders are prissy, but for me, being a cheerleader gives me a chance to prove they're not."

Last month, Taija's Wake Forest Titan Pee Wee cheerleaders proved just that.

The pint-sized spirit squad clinched the local Consolidated Football Federation Cheerleading Championship and conquered the Mid-South Regional Championships before finishing in fourth place in the 2009 Pop Warner National Cheer and Dance Championships at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla., Dec. 7-11.

Rising to the occasion

The Titans, 18 cheerleaders strong, competed in the small squad category, for teams with fewer than 20 members.

Taija, a student at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Raleigh, is a flier, often hoisted high into the air by her teammates, who form her base.

Her favorite stunt, which is also her hardest, is the Scorpion. A flexible cheerleader can complete this move by pulling one leg behind her and grasping her ankle, so her leg is bent backward resembling a scorpion's tail. If this sounds hard, consider the move is done while a group of cheerleaders holds the Scorpion in the air by one foot.

Taija struggled with this move, nailing it just once or twice before the big national competition.

"As I got closer and closer to our turn to perform in nationals, I was freaking out over the Scorpion. I was just shaking," she said.

As she approached her big move, she did a cartwheel then went up and pulled the move.

"It wasn't perfect, but I did it," she said. "I know I can do it when it counts."

Patty Trocchio, in her first year coaching the Titans, is proud.

"We placed higher in nationals than any Wake Forest cheerleading team ever has," she said. "These girls are very coachable; some have never competed before. These little girls really rose to the occasion in an extremely difficult routine."

Pop Warner is an inclusive program and focuses as much on grades as athleticism. If a child wants to play and has the required grades, he or she is not excluded. And this makes it challenging for coaches who strive to be competitive.

"What you get are girls with different skills or no skills. Many are shy and don't want to try new things," Trocchio said.

As the cheerleading and football season progresses, she notices changes. The girls' confidence grows.

Even though Trocchio was never a cheerleader herself, she threw herself into coaching the sport when her daughter, Abby Stephenson, then 7, started cheering. Stephenson is 23 and an assistant coach with her mother.

Trocchio and her staff are the main reasons Rachel Lowery is on the Titan squad.

"My coaches are awesome. I couldn't have asked for better coaches," she said. "They are the best coaches I ever had."

Going to Florida

Rachel, 11, attends Wakefield Middle School and hopes to cheer in high school.

She has been cheering for the Titans in different age levels for the past five years, starting on the Tiny Mite team. Last year, her squad made it to the Mid-South Regional Championships, but that's as far as it went.

"Winning the regionals this year was awesome. I actually cried; I was so happy," she said.

The only down side was the car ride to Orlando.

"We spent 10 hours in the car, and my family was edgy to get out," she acknowledged.

But once the Mickey Mouse ears started showing up along the route, edginess changed to excitement and excitement turned to outright giddiness at show time.

"When the announcer called our name, I felt like I would explode with nerves and excitement," Rachel said. "It was really fun."

The cheerleaders will not rest on their laurels. Starting immediately, they will be in the Tumble Gym in Wake Forest perfecting their tumbling skills and learning new ones.

They're going for gold next year.