Dukes Disney Bound

On Saturday, November 9 at the SunBank arena in Trenton the Pop Warner Eastern Region Finals cheerleading competition was held. The teams competing included the best cheerleading squads from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington DC. 

The Hillsborough Dukes Jr.  Pee Wee squad consists of 12 girls from Auten Road Intermediate School, Woods Road, Sunnymead and Hillsborough Elementary Schools. The 2 1/2 minute routine performed consisted of cheer, dance, tumble and stunting. The team was competing in a category consisting of 15 teams. Despite the pressure of facing so many highly qualified teams, the Dukes performed a perfect routine and came in First Place, winning the Eastern Region Championship title. The girls were overjoyed at having achieved this major milestone. Their next and final competition will be at Walt Disney World in Florida at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. The competition will take place on Monday, December 9th.  

Head Coach Elizabeth prince is quoted as saying "It has been an amazing season and I could not be prouder of these young ladies.  I have coached some of these girls since they were in kindergarten and, as each new girl has joined, it is like they have always been part of the team.  They have shown a confidence in themselves the last few weeks that you cannot teach.  They believed they could make it Nationals and now I cannot wait to see what they have in store at Disney."

Since this team has come in First Place at every competition so far, they are hoping for great things at Nationals in Disney.  However, just qualifying to attend nationals is a victory in itself.  Head Cheer Commissioner Ellen Compell stated "This is a great group of girls that understands the value of hard work but also how to have fun."

So now in addition to practicing, their thoughts turn to fundraising as well.  The team is being partially sponsored through a donation approved by the Hillsborough Dukes board. In addition they will be doing a pancake breakfast fundraiser at Applebee's on December 1 from 8-10 am, seeking sponsorship from local businesses, as well as canning around town.  Feel free to contactcheer@hillsboroughdukes.com/ 908-947-8197 to get tickets for the breakfast for $10 each or if interested in sponsoring the team.