Photos provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Springs Pop Warner Football (SSPW) junior team and junior cheerleading team will both be going to regionals this year. The team will represent the Capital District as they head to the first round of Eastern Regional playoffs on Sunday, November 4 at 11 a.m. against Rockland County at Spring Valley High School in Spring Valley, NY. Eastern Region is made of NY, PA, DE, NJ, MD and DC. The champions of the regional playoffs will head to Disney’s Wide World of Sports the first week of December for Pop Warner’s equivalent of the Super Bowl. Saratoga Pop Warner Junior PeeWee Cheer Squad Placed second at Capital District Cheer competition on October 6, which qualified them for the Eastern Region Competition being held Saturday, November 3 at the Cure Insuring Arena in Trenton, NJ.
“This is the second year in a row this squad has qualified for regionals,” said Kim Delgado, current president of SSPW.
The champions of the regional competition will head to the National Championship at Disney’s Wide World of Sports during the first week of December. Fifteen cheerleaders, ages 9-11, seven of which are new to the squad this season. The squad is coached by Ceara Poulin, who is assisted by Amanda Ganser, Hailey Grogan, and Sandra Scalo. The cheerleaders are: Stella Delgado, Quiyana Brown, Isabel Ramos, Hailey Scalo, Jaelyn Wilcox, Sedona Price, Holland Campbell, Elianna Callender, Zoe Evans, Fiona Doty, Janessa Mallaney, Kaitlyn Lamica, Ruby O’Neal, Sierra Glinski, and Ella Dobson. The SSPW junior team are the American Division Champions for 2018 with an 8-0 record and 167 points scored. Nineteen players make up the team, ages 9-11, eight of which have never played football before. The team is coached by Ari Delgado who is assisted by Raquel Thompson, Leighton Anderson, Eric Johnson, and Steve Streicher. The players are: Gianni Delgado, Dylan Marcello, Johnny Stevenson, Lucius Anderson, Zach Streicher, Chris Johnson, Alex Schumacher, Jay’den White, Harrison Nacua-Saum, Blayke Nacua-Saum, Owen Beierlein, Nicolas Mello, Karsten Soule, David Newell, Hayden Passaretti, Tyler McCarthy, Brennan Malloy, Michael Carson, and Andrew Stallmer.
“We are so proud of them,” Delgado remarked.