Season of good cheer
Area girls dazzle with top routines in AYFLC showcase.
Summer Pflug enjoys putting on makeup and performing routines with her team.
The member of the Coconut Creek Eagles’ 140-pound cheerleading squad celebrated with the rest of the girls over their thirdplace Small Category finish during the recent American Youth Football League Cheerleading competition at the Bank United Center on the University of Miami’s campus.
“I like the competition because everybody is watching you, so it’s fun,” said Pflug, 13 and an eighthgrader at Lyons Creek Middle School. “The best part of today was hitting all our stunts. We practice the whole season at last three times a week. We wanted to win.”
The event, which annually follows the American Youth Football League’s Super Bowl Saturday extravaganza, featured 60 teams in three categories: Small (squads with 12 or fewer members), Medium (13-19 members) and Large (20-25 members). There were also weight classifications within each category.
The Coral Springs Chargers won six weight titles within the Large Category, while the Cooper City Cowboys and Sunrise Gators each won three titles. Cooper City took first place in the Medium Category (75 and 105 weight) and Small (95), with Sunrise topping the Small Category (115 and 125) and Medium (105).
Capturing two titles apiece were the Plantation Wildcats (Small Category Pee Wee and Medium Category140) and Pembroke Pines Optimist Bengals (Medium Category 95 and 115).
The Coconut Creek Eagles secured the Medium Category’s 125-pound crown, while the West Pines Wildcats took top honors among the Small Category 140-pounders.
When it comes to cheerleading, Davie’s Hailey Cox, 14, has a full plate. Along with her efforts on the Plantation Wildcats’ 140-pound team, she is also on the squad at West Broward High School.
Cox, a freshman, sees cheerleading as a natural transition after spending 10 years in gymnastics.
“I was just doing (gymnastics) for fun, so I decided to try something new,” she said. “I like (cheerleading) a lot. I like tumbling and getting thrown in the air (flying), so I turned to cheerleading. There is a lot of pressure. But once you are out there, you feel like you can do it forever.”
Adriana Camargo, 13, used to get nervous about being tossed through the air during performances involving her Sunrise Gators’ 125-pound division squad, but not anymore.
“I love the stunts and everything about the sport,” said Camargo, a seventh-grader at Westpine Middle School. “When I am (performing), I am so happy. The best part is doing my stunts and seeing everybody’s reaction.”
Juliette Martinez, 13, who cheers with Pembroke Pines Optimist’s 140-pounders, is already a flyer in her first year in the sport.
“It’s fun,” said Martinez, a seventh-grader at Apollo Middle School in Hollywood. “I was nervous, but my coaches help me to relax and breathe. The best part of this was we just learned some new stunts and made (the routine) harder two days before the competition.”
Coconut Creek’s Katie Ramaglia was one of six athletes with special needs who took part in the competition. She showcased her skills on the Eagles’ 115-pound team and was a member of the 5-Star Hotshots all-star cheerleading team that performed an exhibition.
“It’s awesome for her to be out here with both of her teams,” said her mom and 115-pount team coach Marifran Ramaglia. “She shows she belongs, and the girls love her.”
Coral Springs Chargers’ league rep Kim Valldeperas said her organization includes150 girls on six cheerleading teams.
“This is an enormous amount of fun,” said Valldeperas, who is in her 18th year with the program. “There are 900 girls in the American Youth Football League Cheerleading program, and to put on this all-day competition is a big undertaking.”
Michelle Longerbeam, vice president of AYFLC, has been in charge of the Cooper City Cowboys program for the past 25 years.
“Cheerleading first came on the radar in the early 1990s,” Longerbeam said. “Now it has changed to being more dramatic, and the level of difficulty with the stunting and the tumbling has increased. … There is definitely a new competitive edge. Everybody is fighting for first place.”
The AYFLC presented awards to the top three teams in each division, as well as honorable mention (shining star) accolades.
“It is fun to see them in a venue like that at the University of Miami,” Longerbeam said. “They come here and they think they are in the Super Bowl of cheerleading. Many of them dream about being college cheerleaders, so this gives them the experience of being able to perform at a college site.”
Miramar 12-year-old Quantanieze Binns cheers with the Wolverines’ 115-pound team.
“I like to cheer and show spirit,” Binns said. “You just come out here, try your best and have fun.”