Hamilton cheerleaders might become national champions
Well Thanksgiving is just about here and it’s a time to sit back, relax, count some blessings, eat some turkey, watch some football.
But for 18 girls from Hamilton - and their parents - this Thanksgiving is also going to spent trying to come up with ways to raise some money.
Why? Because the Hamilton Pop Warner Junior Varsity cheerleading team is going to Disney World to compete in the Pop Warner Cheer and Dance National Championships. The squad, made up of girls ages 10-13, won the Central Jersey competition in October, which punched their ticket to the Eastern Regionals and … and they won there, so they’re going to Disney.
To give some semblance of this achievement, there were over 50 central Jersey teams the girls had to beat just to get to the regionals, which encompasses an area including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and D.C.
In short: This is monumental, and these girls are the first Hamilton team to ever make it.
Of course, this doesn’t come cheap.
“We are fundraising our behinds off,” said Kelly Mooney, mom to 10-year-old daughter Kamryn, a 5th grader at McGalliard elementary. “We honestly weren’t thinking this far ahead.”
So right now, they’re offering sponsorships to local businesses, but they’ve also set up a GoFundMe page, seeking donations to hit their goal of $20,540, which is what they need to get the team down to Orlando for the competition December 4. At the time of this writing, they have raised $1,075. (The fact I’m having this run as my de facto Thanksgiving column is not a coincidence. You have a few extra bucks lying around? Go to GoFundMe.com and search “hamilton pop.” It’ll be the first one, with the same picture that is with this column.)
Of course, I’m sure there’s still of handful of you out there who are all like, “bah humbug, cheerleading isn’t a sport, blither blather blother.”
Well, I dare you to say this to one of the girls, these same girls who were practicing four times a week in August and three times a week - at two hours a pop all throughout this school year. They run, they jump, they tumble, they cheer, they dance … I’m exhausted just typing it.
And now they have a chance to bring a national title to Hamilton.
“We always wish for it, but to actually win and get to go to Disney is incredible,” Mooney told me. “The it their dream at this age.”
Can I sweeten the pot a bit? This is also the first time many of these kids will be at Disney World, and six of them are graduating out from the program as they head to high school next year.
I mean come on. This is worth a few bucks.
“Winning the nationals would be great, but really, just to get to this point exceeded the expectations,” Mooney said.
A very exciting time for a bunch of very hard-working girls.
And know this: If they win and why wouldn’t they, after all, they are the Hamilton Revolution - it’s off to the Global Championships. But fear not for your charitable wallet; those are held right here in Atlantic City.
First things first, though. Let’s get these girls to Disney!
And happy Thanksgiving, while we’re here ...
Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@ trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @ jeffedelstein on Twitter.