GILROY—The Gilroy Browns junior midget cheer squad went into the Pop Warner Cheer and Dance National Championships confident, but with no expectations. But when the team returned, it had a trophy with it.
The junior midget squad took fifth place Dec. 10 at Disney’s World Wide of Sports Complex in Orlando. It’s the first trophy any Browns team has won at nationals.
“It was just really exciting,” Browns coach Danielle Rogers said. “I hate to say it, but it was so unexpected. I guess we just went into this really humble and weren’t going over there expecting to get first place. I think that kind of pushed them to try harder because they didn’t expect it—they knew they had to work.”
The team relied heavily on its stunting and filled almost the entire routine with it. The Browns even had two basket tosses right off the bat in the cheer portion of the routine and kept the judges and crowds fixated on them with high-flying action.
Rogers said the stunts were even more important as most of the team—which consists of cheerleaders ages 11-14—hasn’t yet developed it’s tumbling skills. Instead, the Browns integrated complicated stunts like single-leg stunts and even the “Dead Man.” For this, two girls fall back and are bounced back up by their back spotters.
“It’s totally full trust when they’re completely falling back without seeing where they’re going, who’s there and it’s just all on counts. They just fall,” Rogers said.
The Browns started their season with almost a completely new squad. Rogers had only six returners from last year’s squad of 18. Most had never cheered before, let alone stunted, and the coaches expected this season to be mainly a transition year. But the chemistry of the team helped it flourish quickly and helped it get better with each tournament.
“They got close really fast,” Rogers said. “I think that’s what kind of carried them. They really pulled together and they have a lot of trust in each other.”
Even with the team’s stellar chemistry, the Browns still had to overcome hurdles. They had one girl suffer a broken arm during the season and another develop whiplash just before nationals, leaving her available for only two practices before the competition.
The Browns had just one chance to perform and Rogers told her squad to remember how far it had come and not worry about placing. Even though there were minor mistakes, the girls smiled through it and gave it their all.
“It was tough, but they just pulled it together,” Rogers said. “The one that broke her arm healed in time to compete. We went and it was just really exciting.”
The Morgan Hill Raiders, which competes in the same Pop Warner region with the Browns, also made the trip to nationals and made the experience even more special for Gilroy. The Raiders had placed higher in all competitions than the Browns heading into nationals except for this one. Morgan Hill finished seventh, but their Gilroy counterparts supported it until the very end.
“It was sad because our girls and Morgan Hill were really, really supportive of each other and I loved, loved, loved it,” Rogers said. “The way they were supporting our girls, cheering them on saying good luck and vice versa and then when we placed they were congratulating us. When it went on to fourth, third, second and first, my girls were hugging them and holding their hands and telling them ‘you guys have this. You guys got this.’ It was super neat to experience the closeness.”
The junior midget squad would like to thank the Gilroy Vets, Earthbound Farms, Safeway, Nob Hill, Tony’s Embroidery, CalSilk, the Doyle family and the Gilroy community for their support this season.
