Published

Published: 11/25/2007

Lawrence Pop Warner cheerleaders head to Orlando

By Sports Reporter
Staff Writer

The Lawrence Pop Warner football cheerleading squad (11-14 year old) finished second at the New England Regional championship, yesterday at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield.

The runner-up status earned the 10-member team a trip to the national competition in Orlando, Florida, which will be held on Dec. 7.

"We were surprised that we came in second," said coach Vanessa Palmisano. "But we pulled it together and came through."

Published: 11/21/2007

The little Pop Warner squad that could be in the Nationals

By Courtney Paquette
Staff Writer

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LAWRENCE - The girls huddle together as they wait to get into Vivid Night Club on Essex Street. It's cold, and some of the girls forgot their jackets. One of their friends arrives in a cab and runs over to the group. They hug and start giggling.

Then a few start doing cartwheels on the sidewalk.

This is no typical night at Vivid. It's Monday, around 5 p.m., and these girls are waiting for the club to open its doors so they can practice their cheerleading routine.

They are the Lawrence Hurricanes, the little Pop Warner cheerleading squad that could. These girls, ages 11 through 14, have no mats to practice on and no money for equipment or extra gear. If the owners of Vivid Night Club didn't open their doors and donate the club space, they'd have nowhere to practice.

Against all odds, this team of 13 is one step away from going to the Pop Warner National Championship at Disney World in Orlando.

"If we had to, I'd practice outside in the freezing cold," said Maya Young, 13, who is in eighth grade at St. Patrick Elementary School in Lawrence and a team co-captain.

The Hurricanes started with even less, if that's possible.

When coach Vanessa Palmisano, 21, who grew up in Salem, N.H., and now lives in Haverhill, took over the team two years ago, most of the girls couldn't even do a forward roll.

"When I first got them two years ago, they had no idea," said Palmisano, a senior at Merrimack College in North Andover and head cheerleading coach at Pelham High School in New Hampshire. "I couldn't believe how low the program was."

Or, as Trisha Houde, 13, another co-captain and eighth-grader at St. Patrick put it, "We weren't that good at all."

Palmisano said she found the girls willing to learn, and lots of talent to work with. So she started having the girls come for the maximum amount of practice time Pop Warner rules allow - three days a week, two hours a night.

And she tasked the girls to practice whenever they could at home.

"When we first joined, that was a big shock," Maya said of the work involved. "We were not expecting to win."

But the girls took to it.

In a year, Palmisano had them competing at the regional and state levels, against teams like Salem, Billerica, Arlington and Cambridge.

Last year, they were a few points shy of heading to the Nationals. The slightest mistake - one of the girls glanced away during the routine - kept them from traveling to Disney World, where most of the girls had never even been for vacation.

With only three girls returning from last year's successful team, this year was a challenge. But the team, despite having two injuries, shined again.

"Lawrence is back, let our reign begin," they chanted at a recent practice.

They came in first place at the Merrimack Valley Conference Championships last month and second in the Eastern Massachusetts Championships. This weekend, they're heading to the New England Regional competition in Springfield.

At the New England Regional, they'll compete against 12 other teams in the Pop Warner novice level. They need to place first or second to move onto the National Cheerleading Competition in Walt Disney World at the beginning of December.

If they make it, heading there will cost $1,000 a person. They're starting to raise money, just in case.

They think this year their dancing will give them an edge over the competition.

"It gets everyone so pumped up," Trisha said. "(The other teams), they're like 'We loved the dance."'

But, competition is nerve-racking.

"Your stomach turns around," said Chasity Cortes, 13, a co-captain and an eighth-grader at South Lawrence East Middle School.

Nerves aside, they're hooked on cheerleading. They thought they'd quit when they got to high school, but now they want to keep cheerleading in high school.

"Vanessa has turned it around for me," Maya said.

Trisha agreed.

"I want to do it in college," she said. "I want to go all the way with cheerleading."

Published: 11/28/2007

They're dreaming of a national championship with just three days left

By Courtney Paquette
Staff Writer

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LAWRENCE - They're going to Disney World.

But first, the Lawrence Hurricanes need a little magic from the Merrimack Valley to help them get there.

The Pop Warner cheerleading squad placed second in the New England Championships Saturday, earning them a bid at the National Championship in Disney World in Orlando on Dec. 2. It's the first time in the team's 44-year history that they've made it this far.

Winning was the easy part. Now they have to raise at least $12,000 in three days for the 10 girls and two coaches to make the trip.

The team has been collection money in donation cans since last week trying to raise money. The girls were even out on Thanksgiving morning looking for donations.

Through their efforts, and a few generous donations, they've raised about $2,000, cutting their tab to $10,000. Pop Warner will probably chip in about $100 per girl, coach Vanessa Palmisano said. And they've written to Oprah, hoping she'll help grant their wish.

The girls are used to having to work hard to get what they want - they don't even have mats to practice on, and they're among the best teams in the country. But between practice and school, they're not going to have much more time to raise money, and they're getting worried they won't be able to raise the money in time.

"We really need to raise a big chunk of money that canning isn't even going to touch," Palmisano, 21, of Haverhill said.

The hotel, airfare and food for each of the girls will cost about $1,000. They need to have the money by Friday in order to secure their hotel rooms at the All Star-Sports Resort.

Most of their families can't afford to chip in too much, and for even the ones who can, this is a tough time of year.

"We have families telling their kids, this is your Christmas present," Palmisano said. "And (the girls are) like, 'Fine.'"

They won't let the Merrimack Valley down, they said. At Saturday's competition in Springfield, they beat teams from Brockton, Athol, Fall River, Manchester, Worcester, among others, and came in second behind Reading. This, after winning the Merrimack Valley Conference Championships last month and placing second in the Eastern Massachusetts Championships.

"We thought we weren't going to win," said Chasity Cortes, 13, a co-captain and eighth-grader at South Lawrence East Middle School, of the New England Championships. "And then they were placing everybody, they said fifth, and then they went to fourth, and it wasn't us. We got so excited. We were holding hands. When they said second, we jumped so high, it wasn't even funny. We were so happy."

Their fundraising needs aside, things have started to look up for the Hurricanes. They had been practicing at Vivid Night Club, which donated practice space for their season. But Central Catholic High School in Lawrence offered them its gym for this weekend so the girls can practice on competition-style mats before the nationals, which is Dec. 2 to 8 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.

"We've made it so far, to Florida," Chasity said.

All they need is a little help, and they could bring home something Lawrence hasn't seen in a long time.

"What's the point of going down there if you're not going to win," Palmisano said.

BOX:

How can I help the Hurricanes?

* The Lawrence Pop Warner Hurricanes need to raise about $10,000 in three days in order to go to the Pop Warner National Championships in Orlando.

To help, send checks to Lawrence Pop Warner, 39 Ridgewood Circle, Lawrence, MA., 01843 or call 978-569-4647.