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Girls cheer their way to competition
Pop Warner team raising money to go to nationals in Orlando, Fla.
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

   First they took the Capital Region. Then, they rose to the top in the Northeast. Now, Rotterdam’s Pop Warner cheerleaders are headed to Orlando, Fla., where they will challenge squads from around the country at the National Cheer and Dance Competition in December.
   “We’re going to Disney World,” exclaimed Dana Payton, the assistant coach of the Rotterdam Raiders in the league’s “junior midget, large” team class, after the team won its berth in the competition last week.
   Qualifying for competition marks the first time the cheerleaders have made the national event in their history of more than 40 years. Head coach Joanne Floccuzio said the team fell just a few points short of making a national bid in the last three times they’ve attended Eastern Region Cheer and Dance Championship Competition in Trenton, N.J.
   This year, Floccuzio trusted her squad’s skill. She said the 24-member group is more relaxed and confident under pressure than any other group she’s coached over the last 11 years. Still, she had her doubts how the team would shape up against the stiff competition at the regional championships.
   “It seems like all the Jersey teams take the place,” she said.
   Those doubts melted away once Floccuzio saw the beaming smiles from her girls as they flawlessly executed the routine they had practiced since late July. She credited the team’s cool attitude under pressure for setting them apart from their competition.
   “They feel comfortable even if they feel nervous inside,” she said.
   Even the prospect of a national competition doesn’t have the girls nervous. Alexa LaPrade, 12, said she’s more nervous about getting to Florida than the competition itself.
   “I’m more nervous about the plane,” she said during the Raiders’ practice Friday. “It’s my fi rst time flying.”
   The 24-girl squad performed a two-minute dance routine for the judges and then demonstrated two cheers. Payton said the regional judges credited the girls with having the most unusual and best coordinated programs among the eight competing squads.
   Though the Raiders were runner-up to the Carteret Sportsman — a team from central New Jersey — Floccuzio said the team did well enough to earn a berth in the competition at Disney World. She said the competition has the young cheerleaders — all between the ages of 10 and 13 — so excited they’re already making preparations. “They’re already packing,” she said.
   The girls are aiming to at least place in the top five. But Sabrina, the coach’s 10-year-old daughter, has faith the team will prevail because they work well with one another.
   “When we go out, we’re never nervous,” she said. “We just work together and have fun.”
   Yet before they can win over judges in Florida, the girls will try to win over the support of residents and businesses in Rotterdam. Payton said the trip will cost roughly $600 for each cheerleader for room and airfare alone, meaning the team will try to raise more than $20,000 over the next two weeks to help defray some of the expenses parents are facing.
   The team has sent out letters seeking donations from area businesses and some parent boosters have started 50-50 raffl es to help the cause. Floccuzio said the Raiders will have a coin drop and bake sale outside of Wal-Mart on Altamont Avenue today and Sunday, then host a “rock and bowl” at Town Bowl on Friday evening, with all proceeds going to fund the trip. The group is also hosting a bottle drive in front of the Altamont Avenue Price Chopper on Dec. 1.
   “It is a big expense for the children and everyone,” she said.

PETER R. BARBER/ GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Kelsey Davidson, 12, a member of the Rotterdam Pop Warner Cheerleading squad, practices her lifts at the Rotterdam Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday

PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Pictured center, Sarah Ramage, 10, of the Rotterdam Pop Warner Cheerleading squad, practices her routines along with other squad members at the Rotterdam Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday.

GOOD FOR THEM!! And while I am out today, I will stop at Price Chopper and donate to them. What a wonderful experience and success to have at such a young age! Congratulations and hope you 'come home with the gold'!!!!