By Gary Curreri

Alicia Solon is in her fourth year as a cheerleader for the Pompano Eagles team that cheers in the American Youth Football League.

Solon, 13, of Pompano Beach, was one of an estimated 800 cheerleaders who competed in the recent American Youth Football League Cheerleading Championships (AYFLC) at the Watsco Center at the University of Miami. The two Pompano Eagles teams – 9U and the Junior Prep teams, each scored participation awards.

“You have fun while you do it,” said Solon, a member of the Junior Prep squad. “Competitions like this help me improve. You have to have a lot of trust in each other and we build that through practice every day.

“I love cheerleading because I get to show what I can do,” Solon added. “It gives me a lot of energy.”

Solon, who said she’d like to cheer in high school and maybe in college too, also said she’d like to prove the doubters wrong who say cheerleading is not a sport.

“It is a sport because we work hard, just as hard as the football players,” said Solon, an 8th grader at William Dandy Middle School in Ft. Lauderdale. “We have to lift each other up and that is a weight.”

Pompano Eagles cheerleading coach Sharique McDonald brought two squads to the competition.

“The girls keep me on my toes every day,” McDonald said. “Every day, I learn something new from their little generation. I have to try and keep up just to stay in tune with them, but they keep me on my toes all of the time.”

She appreciates the daily improvement and dedication with the squads.

“That is like the best feeling ever,” McDonald said. “One of my girls has been cheering with me since she was 9 and couldn’t speak English when she first started. That was her first time cheering and, each year, she has excelled and pushes herself. They listen to my directions, and you can see they want it. The girls are what matters to me.”

McDonald also said there is a lot of focus that goes into the sport.

“You have to have a lot of discipline, and you can’t give up on yourself because you are going to take it to a whole new level with the stunting and tumbling, and your body is literally breaking down,” she noted. “You get bruised at practice and girls hit the ground hard and they get right back up and say, ‘I am going to do this.’ You can’t top that. The football players can’t top that and they have equipment.”

Pompano Beach’s Selena Sanchez, 6, who is a 1st grader at Pompano Beach Elementary School, received the prestigious Lisa Gager Spirit Award from the AYFLC. Gager was with the Sunrise program and passed away a little more than a decade ago, and the award was started in her memory for what she did in the cheerleading community.

“It is my first year as a cheerleader,” Sanchez said. “I like when we jump so high. And when we cheer at a football game, I like when people say we are good.”

By Gary Curreri

For first-year Deerfield Beach Bisons cheerleader Dajae Nash, competing in the American Youth Football League annual cheerleading competition at the Watsco Center at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, was an enjoyable experience.

She was a member of the Junior Prep (Ages 11-Under) Small Division and one of 60 routines that performed in the large competition in front of an estimated crowd of more than 2,000 people.

“It’s fun,” said Nash, 10, who lives in Pompano and is a fourth-grader at Tedder Elementary School. “There is a lot of stuff you have to learn. The music that we have is really good. This is a really big competition, so you get nervous. I wasn’t nervous though. I just believe in God.”

“Cheerleading is hard,” Nash added. “It takes a lot of time to learn the routines and get them right. The first time you are never going to get them right. It is going to take time for the kids to learn to get them right.”

Bisons teammate Amiyah Ashley, who like Nash is a flier, wasn’t in awe of the more than 2,000 in attendance at the competition.

“I like the cheers, the songs and competing,” said Ashley, 10, of Deerfield Beach, who is a fifth-grader at Deerfield Park Elementary School. “I get nervous (sometimes). I think about what I have to do.”

Deerfield Bisons cheerleading coach Kenya McDowell brought nine girls with her for the 11-Under competition, which received a participation award in the Junior Prep category.

“This is very cool,” McDowell said. “For three of them, it is their first experience and the other ones performed here before. It’s exciting.”

The Deerfield Bisons placed second in the Youth Prep (Ages 9-Under) Medium Division and third in the Pee Wees (Ages 8-Under) Small Division.

Pompano Eagles Senior (13-Under) Division cheerleader Gianna Mercado has been competing for the past four years in the sport.

“I like that it is very active, and it is something to do,” said Mercado, 12, of Pompano, is a seventh-grader at Somerset Key Academy. “The competition is the best part. You get very nervous, but you just push through it and just do it.”

The Eagles had a slight mishap midway through the routine, but they persevered. The Eagles took second in the Senior (Ages 13-Under) Medium Division.

“You just have confidence in yourself and know that you can do it the next time,” she said. “It was amazing. It was worth it. We put a lot of effort into it.”

Mercado said she hopes to cheer in college and said the setting at the UM campus validated it.

“For sure,” she said. “I have good experience and I have the ability. I believe I can do it in college. It would be awesome.”

Michele Longerbeam, who presides over the American Youth Football League cheerleading program, said there were more than 800 participants in the competition at the University of Miami.

“We have mini competitions throughout the season to get ready for the big one and this is the Super Bowl for cheerleaders,” said Longerbeam, who noted all 13 programs in the AYFL competed and there were a total of 60 routines that were evaluated by a panel of judges.

Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association results

The Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association closed out the year with several competitions.

On Dec. 19, they held an individual play tournament with awards for Low Gross and Low Net in Classes. In the Class A Division, Roy Wilhoite shot an 82 to win the Low Gross honors. Tom Pawelczyk shot a 67 to win the Low Net honors, while Bill O’Brien shot a 71 to take second, after a match of cards.

Oscar Aleman carded an 85 to win the Low Gross for the Class B Division. In the Low Net Division, Jerry Goodman and Bob Schurr each shot 67s.however, Goodman won on a match of cards to win.

In the Class C Division, Jim Dunn won the Low Gross title with a 93. Jim Foster won the Low Net Division with a 74 and won on a match of cards. Robert Raser was second with a 74.

Bob Mascatello carded a 93 to win the Class D Low Gross title. In the Low Net competition, Brian Nixon recorded a 67 to take first place, while Joel Englander was two shots back in second with a 69.

Roy Wilhoite won the closest to the pin on the third hole when his tee shot stuck at 4-feet, 2-inches.

In the Scramble alternate shot on Dec. 12, the team of John Arrigo, Patrick McClain and Pete Strychowskyj shot a 65 to take first place, while Robert Blau, Frank Cutrone, and Mike Marruquin, and Roe Messner shot a 69 and won on a match of scorecards. The team of Jim Dunn, Tim O’Brien, Bob VanZandt and Neil Wilson were second.

There were two winners of the closest to the pin: (Hole No. 7): Jim Greeley and (Hole No. 15): Gary Gill. The winner of the longest putt on the 18th hole was Roy Wilhoite and Dennis Sejda was the closest to the line on the 9th hole.

By Gary Curreri

Blanche Ely senior cheerleader Makya Harvard couldn’t have been happier with her team’s performance this season as they reached the FHSAA Class 2A state semifinals.

Harvard, 17, of Pompano Beach, finished her fourth year on varsity and third year on the competition team. Even though the team doesn’t have captains, Harvard is one of the leaders on the squad.

“I have to make sure everyone is okay physically and emotionally,” said Harvard, who has been a cheerleader since age 4. “I also make sure everyone is on time and able to do what they are supposed to do. The best part for me? When I hit the mat and do what I do.”

More than 50 teams and 800 athletes from Broward, Palm and Miami-Dade counties competed in the Region 4 competition at Coral Springs High School. The top two teams in each division with a raw score of 70 or better earned an automatic entry into the state finals. A qualifying score of 60 or better earned the team a spot in the state semifinals at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida.

The Tigers finished ninth in the Large Non-Tumbling division and qualified for the state semifinals. They finished fourth at the state competition during those semifinals and failed to reach the finals at state.

“There is an excitement knowing what I am doing, that people want to participate and I am making others happy…” Harvard said. “That’s what cheerleading is about, cheering people up.”

She said the hardest part about the sport is getting fans excited when a team is losing. She said the football season was very difficult.

“That happened a lot this year; but, being a leader, you can’t let your emotions get the best of you,” she said. “I have to show my teammates and cheer everyone else up.”

How will that help down the road?

“I think knowing that I can put my emotions aside in things that are important to me, and being a leader and taking charge, will help me when I get out in the real world and [with] a real job,” she said. “When I first came in my freshman year, we weren’t too good, and each and every year, we have progressed … We have unity and we go out together now. We have become one big family.”

Harvard said she was relieved that the team qualified for state this season.

“It just shows that all of those long nights paid off,” she said. “Even though there were times when our fliers had injuries, we just pushed through.”

Deerfield Beach placed 10th at the regional competition in the Small Non-Tumbling Division and Pompano Beach finished ninth in the Medium Non-Tumbling Division as both squads failed to advance to state.