“This is where it all starts,” said Yvonne Hosaka, Pop Warner’s Westcom Regional cheer coordinator. More than a hundred young pepsters representing the five districts for the Kaua‘i Pop Warner Association wrapped up a two-day cheer camp in the Waimea
“This is where it all starts,” said Yvonne Hosaka, Pop Warner’s Westcom Regional cheer coordinator.
More than a hundred young pepsters representing the five districts for the Kaua‘i Pop Warner Association wrapped up a two-day cheer camp in the Waimea High School gym Sunday.
The pepsters come from the Junior Pee Wee, Pee Wee and Midget divisions.
“This is the start of the 2007 tackle football season,” said Mila Rapanot of the Kekaha Association. “Practice starts July 30, and the Jamboree comes up on Sept. 1 at Hanapepe Stadium.”
Rapanot has been a longtime leader with the Kekaha association and said the island-wide cheer competition that earns squad eligibility for the national competition in Florida will be taking place later in October.
As the lunch hour wound down, the nine staff members of JAMZ, a cheer group from the Mainland, enjoyed the shade of a tree while letting their laulau and lomi salmon digest before returning to the mats.
“This time, they’re going to all the islands,” Rapanot said.
Previously, JAMZ hosted cheer camps at Hanapepe Stadium. This year, that site was relocated to the Anne Knudsen Park in Koloa, but due to the unsettled weather churned up by the passage of Tropical Storm Cosme, the group moved to the shelter of the Clem Gomes Gym.
Hosaka said JAMZ works with the cheerleaders to come up with new routines the groups will use during the tackle football season.
While the teams walk off the field with scores to show for their effort, the cheerleaders’ performance during the game and halftime presentations are voted on by their peers with everything coming down to the one-day island-wide cheer competition.
“It’s good,” said Taylor Gaspar, a four-year cheerleader for the Hanapepe Colts. “They teach you how to do stunting and routines.”
Gaspar had a “Star Dancer” ribbon adorning her hair, complimenting her yellow ribbon, noting that this year, she will be moving up from novice to intermediate competition.
“They just pick you when you’re performing,” said Tiffany Patricio-Huddy, a three-year camper from the Colts who had a “Jump Award” ribbon in her hair.
Similar ribbons adorned the hairdo of the field that rocked the gym under the leadership of the JAMZ staff and a library of music that lent itself to the energetic routines.
But the ribbon awards were not limited to cheerleaders as several coaches sported ribbons in their hair as well.
The involvement of the coaches went deeper than ribbons as JAMZ staff pulled them into routines to the enjoyment of the young cheerleaders and their parents who were gathering for the camp-ending Parent Show.
Cassandra Owens, former cheerleader for the Hanapepe Colts for nine years, was one of those coaches.
“I’m going to be in the varsity when school starts,” said Owens.
“I’m just helping as a student coach. Helping coach is fun, and this camp is good. It’s really exciting.”
