Hollister’s competitive cheer teams make history in Santa
Clara
SANTA CLARA
The Hollister Vikings cheerleaders made history Sunday as all three of their competitive teams took league championships in their competition in Santa Clara.
It was the first time that Hollister has ever won more than one league championship in a single season, although Hollister has had several years where two or three teams advanced to regionals or nationals (A team does not necessarily have to win the league championship to advance). It was also the first time in quite awhile for the local Pop Warner league that three champions have come from the same association.
The cheer teams that won the hardware for Hollister could not have been more different in their makeup, or in the paths that they took to win the championship. Their experience level ranged from the Junior Midgets, with more than 105 years experience for their 20 girls (an average of more than five years per cheerleader), to the Junior Pee Wees, which had four first-year cheerleaders and many more in only its second season, and averaged only one-and-a-half years experience per girl.
Their competition was against as many as fifteen other teams (the Junior Pee Wees) and as few as one other team (the Pee Wees).
Their coaches ranged from three years of experience (Kristine Shepherd of the Junior Pee Wees) to 10 years experience (Pee Wee head coach Sherry Reynolds). They performed their stunts to dance music (the Junior Pee Wees), Michael Jackson (the Pee Wees) and country music (the Junior Midgets).
But at the end of the day on Sunday, each team had one thing in common: Their two-and-a-half minute routines, loaded with their best stunts, cheers and gymnastics moves, were each judged to be the best in Northern California by an independent panel of judges. They amazed many others in the crowd too, and their collective performance established the Hollister Vikings as a cheerleading powerhouse in Northern California.
The prospective of sending three teams to nationals is exciting for the Vikings and for the community, but there is also the associated challenge of raising the $60,000 that would be required to send three cheer teams to nationals, which is a likely possibility at this point. Interested businesses and individuals can find information on sponsoring the Vikings on the Hollister Pop Warner Web site.
But the Viking cheerleaders still need to win one more competition to get to the nationals in Florida. That will be on the day after Thanksgiving, when they face the best teams in the Western United States, including the teams that finished second to them in Sunday’s competition. If recent trends continue, Hollister will finish with at least two cheer teams in Florida; They have, in fact, sent two teams to nationals every year since 2004.
Hollister Pop Warner board of directors has also opened registration to all players and cheerleaders for the 2009 season. Those who are interested may download the form from their Web site, and mail it into the organization. The Hollister Pop Warner Web site is:
http://www.eteamz.com /HollisterPopWarner/.
