On Dec. 13th, the Gila River Raiders Cheer Team competed in Orlando, Florida at the 2008 American Youth Football and Cheer National Competition and came out 1st place in the 11 and under Open Division category.
The team includes their flyer, the cheerleader designated to be thrown and caught, 5-year-old Marissa Manuel D3, 8-year-old Dominique Morago D3, 9-year-old Bianca Hernandez D3, 10-year-old Zala Nish D4, 11-year-old Summer Antone D4, 11-year-old April Jackson and their coach Jason Francisco.
The cheer team began as part of the Gila River Youth Football and Cheer organization which is a chartered member of the Central Arizona Youth Football League (CAFYL) and a part of American Youth Football. The CAYFL is comprised of 13 other chartered football and cheer teams in the surrounding cities such as Gilbert, Scottsdale, and Cave Creek.
During the football season they are known as the Gila River Raiders Cheer team but because they entered the national competition under the Open Division they are also known as Gila River Elite. Either way they represented the Community, locally, regionally, and nationally.
As the team made its way to the national competition, they made their mark in youth football history by being the first Native American team to compete in several competitions along their way.
Their journey began Nov. 16th with the 1st annual CAYFL Cheer Competition. There they competed under the Pee-Wee division and came out in 1st place. According to Manuel Leon, Gila River Firefighter Captain and volunteer for Gila River Youth Football and Cheer, they were the only team to utilize stunts which include tossing and catching each other. In fact event judges said "The Gila River squad did the best job of incorporating all aspects of cheerleading in their routine.
" Not only did they come out in 1st place as a team but individually Jackson earned a 4th place award in the Toe Touch competition, Hernandez earned 2nd place for the cartwheel competition, while Manuel earned 4th place for the toe touch an cartwheel competition.
From there the team went on to San Diego, California Nov. 30th, to compete in the Pacific/Mountain Regional Competition. Again history was made when the first Native American cheer team competed and came out in 1st place in the Open Division category. This earned them a spot in the National Competition.
When asked about how they felt about representing Gila River and Indian country, Bianca Hernandez, also know as Binki, who seemed to be the most outspoken of the group said, "We made history, we know that."
For the most part the squad is a typically rambunctious group of girls who are full of energy and eager to show off their cheer talents.
Weeks before the national competition the squad performed during a community council meeting to receive deserved recognition from the community and its leadership.
On Dec. 13th the team competed in the Open Division not only representing Gila River but the Central Arizona Football League, and the Pacific and Mountain Regions. Gila River Elite was the only cheer team to represent states west of Texas.
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