Photos from state cheerleading finals

Here are some photos of yesterday’s cheerleading state championships in Prescott Valley.

State cheerleading finals

The state cheerleading finals will take place this Saturday, January 30, at Tim’s Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.  The 4A/5A finals will take place between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. and the the 1A/3A competition will start at 5:30 p.m. and run until 8:30 p.m.   A schedule of the finals and a list of the teams participating can be found here.

One of the teams participating will be the defending state champion Mountain View Toros, whom we featured in this blog last September.

Admission to the state cheerleading finals is $8 for adults and $6 for students with a student ID card.  An all-day pass, which gives you the ability to re-enter the arena, is $15. Make sure to dress warmly.  Because it is hockey season, the temperature inside Tim’s Toyota Center will be kept between 62 and 70 degrees to preserve the ice. If you cannot make it to Prescott Valley this Saturday, you may watch the cheerleading competitions live here — 4A/5A and 1A/3A.

If you have a young daughter or know of a young girl who is interested in taking up cheerleading, you should view Vicki Balint’s video about American Elite Cheer in Scottsdale.   — Dan Barr

With wrestling, there’s no substitute for hard work

Robert Balint (left) faces an opponent on the mat.

I was introduced to wrestling during my freshman year of high school. In fact, before the wrestling coach recruited me during football season, I didn’t even know that Brophy College Preparatory even had a wrestling team. Before high school, I played baseball, basketball and soccer, but I never once came into contact with a junior high wrestling program.

Arizona is far behind states such as Pennsylvania or Iowa, where the sport of wrestling is closer to a way of life than a mere pastime and 4- and 5-year-olds are hustled onto the mat by screaming parents. Like all sports, athletes who begin training earlier have a greater advantage than latecomers, as they have more time to learn and master the techniques, giving them a head start on muscle memory and body awareness.

That shouldn’t discourage high school athletes who have no prior experience. There’s no substitute for hard work. No matter how experienced a wrestler is, he still has to work for victory.

So what should you do if you have a child in seventh or eighth grade who is interested in wrestling?

Find the nearest grade school with a wrestling program. It probably will be a club program, not an actual school team. Club coaches teach the basic rules and fundamentals. They’ll take just about anyone who shows up ready to work. Here are some contacts to try:

Desert Mountain Wolfpack Wrestling Club
12575 E Via Linda, Scottsdale, AZ 85259
602-826-8887 • cfredericks@susd.org • wolfwrestling.com

Sunkist Kids Wrestling Academy
P.O. Box 12520, Scottsdale, AZ 85267
480-205-3015 • gressley@sunkistkids.org • sunkistkids.org

How is wrestling different from other sports?

Wrestling is a balance between an individual and a team sport. In dual meets, which pit two teams against one another, the two wrestlers in each weight class wrestle each other. Whoever wins captures team points, the number of which awarded depends on the nature of the win. After all 14 weight classes are done, the team points from each individual match are added up, and whichever team scored more is the winner.

Each team member has not only a personal desire to win, but also a responsibility to do well for the good of the entire team. Getting pinned sacrifices the most team points, so even if a wrestler has no chance of winning, he still has to fight hard to avoid giving the other team extra points that could decide the match.

The victor.

Concerning individual matches, wrestling is as close as you can get to a non-team sport. There’s nobody out there on the mat to help you. There is only your opponent. It’s a do-or-die situation: no substitutions, no half-times, nothing.

What are the time commitments and physical challenges of wrestling? What are the benefits?

Athletes should be prepared to dedicate a large amount of time to wrestling. Because the sport demands an extremely high level of conditioning, going to practice every day (grueling though that may be) is crucial to success. As for the physical challenge, there is not much that is more difficult than doing sprints after a couple of hours of drilling techniques and sparring with teammates. After all, it’s full-on combat.

However, if you commit, the rewards are great. Close bonds with teammates, personal pride and self-confidence are all gained from a sport that lets you be as successful as you want to be: it all depends on your personal work ethic. Wrestling helps develop determination, confidence and a refusal to quit. Like Olympic gold medalist and American wrestling legend Dan Gable said, “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.” — Robert Balint

Regulating common sense

There are regulations for everything these days, so I guess I should have not been surprised. But still, it is sad to discover that the Arizona Interscholastic Association has issued five pages of guidelines on how cheerleaders should conduct themselves at the high school state championship football games. That’s right, when Chaparral plays Marcos de Niza this Friday night at ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium and Hamilton plays Mesa the following day at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, the pom and cheer squads for those four schools will have to abide by the AIA’s guidelines for how they should conduct themselves.

The guidelines are not onerous and their purpose is laudable. The AIA says that their purpose is “to re-emphasize the important role spiritlines play in promoting school spirit, appropriate behavior, and good sportsmanship during the regular season and at State Tournament games.”

Fine, but are five pages of regulations really necessary? Do you really need to tell high school girls and their coaches, “If you arrive in private vehicles, you are responsible for finding a parking space?” Plus, for some reason, the AIA prohibits glitter “on any part of the body (including hair) or uniforms.” Does the AIA have glitter police at the state championship games?

The AIA’s “Spritline Conduct Guide – Football Game Conduct” informs the cheerleaders that “[y]our squad also plays an important role in discouraging crowds from yelling or cheering…while an opponent is shooting free throws.” Have the rules of high school football changed recently? Do teams now shoot free throws when their opponents jump offsides? Believe me, if that happens this Friday and Saturday there will be a lot yelling in the crowd and I doubt that cheerleaders will be able to discourage it.

Finally, the AIA guidelines reflect some naivete. While good sportsmanship must always be encouraged, state championship games are emotional events and the officials sometimes make unpopular, and even incorrect, calls. When that happens, some people will boo the officials. It has been, and always will be, part of the game.

So what do the AIA guidelines instruct cheerleaders to do when a crowd starts booing? This is what it says: “Squads should divert the crowd’s attention by starting a popular cheer should booing or other unsportsmanlike conduct develop.”

I have never seen cheerleaders divert the crowd’s attention from booing “by starting a popular cheer” or by doing anything else and I doubt anyone else has either. Who writes these things?

My guess is that the four pom and cheer squads will do just fine exercising their own judgment at the upcoming 5A state championship football games. As for the person who wrote the AIA’s “Spiritline Conduct Guide,” I am sure that he or she has a future drafting rules and regulations for some government agency. — Dan Barr

A real hockey mom

Rachel's back windshield.

Rachel Harris is a Hockey Mom. It even says so on her car. For the past six years, she has nurtured and supported the hockey career of her 12-year-old son, Jack, who is now a rugged 110-pound defenseman for the Arizona Hockey Union U-12 97 team, otherwise known as the Polar Bears.

Jack playing hockey at age 6.

“When Jack was 4, he was invited to the Polar Ice rink in Chandler for a birthday party,” Rachel recalls. “He was frustrated that he couldn’t skate, but he saw some 5-year-old hockey players learning how to skate. He decided right then that he wanted to play hockey.”

Luckily for Rachel, an on-air contributor for Channel 3’s mid-morning show, “Your Life A to Z,” and her husband John, a local attorney, the Polar Ice rink in Chandler is a five-minute drive from their home. But I’d guess that the miles they have put into hockey-related driving since Jack first learned to skate would equal the distance to the moon and back.

“In second grade, he started taking private lessons at 6:30 in the morning. He would work on his skating, shooting and one-on-one situations,” says Rachel, who acknowledges that being a Hockey Mom can be time-consuming. “But it is a lot easier [now] than when I had to stay at the rink and tie his skates.”

Jack has steadily moved up the youth hockey hierarchy, from Mite to Squirt and now to PeeWee. He now has practice three times a week with the Polar Bears and plays about 50 games during the season, which stretches from July until March. Included in those 50 games are six tournaments, some of which are out of state.

Rachel and her mom in Hockey Mom and Hockey Grandma tees.

“We went to Whistler (British Columbia) in July for a four-day tournament against some Canadian teams. It was a great experience for everyone,” says Rachel, noting that several of the Polar Bears families are good friends because their sons have played together for the past six years.

The Polar Bears also played in Denver this past October, and are tentatively scheduled to play in Las Vegas in December and Salt Lake City in the January.

“Travel for these tournaments has made our family more cohesive,” Rachel said. “We usually plan some vacation [time] around them.”

Hocky Mom Rachel and Jack (12).

So what does Rachel think about that other Hockey Mom, who is currently on a well-publicized book tour?

“I got teased a lot during the presidential campaign, especially because I put my hair up and wear glasses. But I’ve had my Hockey Mom sticker on my car for six years, long before anyone heard of her.”

So what are the benefits of youth hockey in Arizona?

“Hockey has taught Jack self-discipline and he is very careful to eat healthy foods. I cannot say enough good things about it,” Rachel says. “And, oh yes, hockey is so great in the summer. That’s when I can’t wait to get inside the rink.” — Dan Barr

2009 Polar Bears Hockey Team.

Chaparral swims to state championship

In the end, it wasn’t even that close.

But head coach Laura Winslow and her two assistants, affectionately known as “the Mikes,” kept the Chaparral High School swimmers so focused that they put their heads down throughout last weekend’s Class 5A Division II championships until they won the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Then all hell broke loose when it became clear Chaparral had won the championships for both boys and girls. Soon after, as tradition requires, the swimmers tossed Laura, Mike and Mike into Kino Pool. It’s kind of like the Gatorade thing for football coaches, only wetter.

It was a thrilling end to a wonderful season for the team, but bittersweet, too. For many of the kids, Saturday was the last time they’d be seeing much of the seniors. So they dragged out the celebration at the pool, then stopped for dinner on the bus ride back.

Monday brings high fives all around school and some well-deserved recognition. It was cool to see Chaparral Principal Mary Lou Muccino arrive at the pool to watch Saturday’s championship finals.

Then it’s back to life before Chaparral swimming, although for many of the kids, like our freshman, it just means back to club swimming. But with a state championship under their belts. — Mary K. Reinhart

Head Coach Laura Winslow holds the state championship trophy aloft surrounded the Chaparral girls team, which won the state 5A-2 title on Saturday at the Kino Aquatics Center in Mesa. Front row: Christina Radvak, Samara Hernandez, Bianca Repasi, Jourdan Broadfoot, Lindsay Claypool (partially visible), Alexis Mouer, Pierce Rodey. Second row: Kasey Taylor, Sally Wang, Carly Johnson, head coach Laura Winslow, Ashley Brewer, Leticia Lelli, Megan Cox, Maddie O’Malley, Sara Dafoe. Back row: assistant coaches Mike O’Keeffe and Mike Robinson.

Chaparral’s state championship boys swim team. Front row: Johnny Kaplan. Second row: Jackson Arn, Tim Giblin, Casey Giblin, Head Coach Laura Winslow, Cody Vitez, Michael Bull and Russell Krzyanowski. Third row: Tanner Roe, Coach Mike O’Keeffe, Barndon Rozell, Coach Mike Robinson and Hank Rodey.

Supporting swimmers

Let’s be honest about this, sports parents. It’s kind of a relief when the season ends.

Yes, the athletes are the ones diving into the water. The coaches, of course, show up before the kids get there and stay until the last one leaves.

But behind the scenes, there are parents — and often grandparents and siblings — making it possible for the contests to take place.

So it will be this weekend, for the 5A high school swim and dive championships at Kino Pool, 848 N. Horne, in Mesa. The action starts at 10 a.m. today (Friday), with girls diving, followed by swimming preliminaries at noon.  Tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) finals start at noon. You can watch it live online, thanks to the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

While plenty of friends and family members will be in the bleachers cheering for their kids and their team in the last of this season’s high school swim and dive contests, a small army of folks will make it happen.

It takes about 25 volunteers to pull off a typical high school swim meet, and that doesn’t count those who bake, buy and serve food for the coaches, officials, timers and spectators. Each of eight lanes requires two timers, another five or six work the computer, announce the meet and ensure proper scoring, and a half dozen or more are officiating, watching every stroke and turn to make sure they’re done correctly.

The parents who help put on the meets don’t do it for the recognition. And it’s not about keeping an eye on their kid, because — as any swim parent knows — these student athletes don’t really have time to get into much trouble.

Mostly, I think, it’s selfish. With two swimmers on the Chaparral High School team, it just feels good to be around these teenagers and their dedicated coaches, and so I look for opportunities to be there. There is great joy in watching my children have fun and compete and be part of something that is much more than just strokes and turns.

Chaparral is a remarkable program and we have a great opportunity to take state in our first season in 5A Division II. This is a competitive crowd and they want to win. But when I asked Chaparral parents for their thoughts about the season, they didn’t focus much on that.

“I have been moved by the Chaparral coaching staff and their commitment in developing our kids as athletes, but more importantly developing them as people,” says Sydney Mouer, parent of junior freestyler Alexis.

Chris Wallace, whose daughter Tessa will be swimming the 50 free, talked about “belonging to a team of great kids and athletes who work hard to achieve their goals.”

Sure, it feels good to win. And yes, there will be a sense of relief when the meet ends Saturday.

But no matter what happens, there is reason to celebrate. All too soon, those reasons will be heading off to college.

Mary K. Reinhart

Xavier badminton team wins state championship

Julia Friedman (left) and Weslie Norris.

All eyes in gym were on them. The focus of state badminton championship between Xavier College Preparatory and Mountain Pointe, which had started an hour earlier with six simultaneous singles matches, was now squarely on the doubles match between each school’s number 3 ranked doubles teams. The first and second ranked doubles teams had just started to play their matches, but not many people were paying attention to them. Even the players for those doubles teams kept glancing over to court number 3, where Xavier’s Weslie Norris and Julia Friedman were playing Mountain Pointe’s Danielle Stewart and Nadya Zolotova.

Julia already had won her singles match, as had her teammates Carissa Pappas, Danielle Dozer and Danielle Mark, to give Xavier a 4-2 lead in the team competition. One more win would give Xavier the title and everyone in the crowd of more than 200 knew it.

Badminton is usually played in a quiet gym before a handful of people. There was nothing quiet about the Shadow Mountain High School gym, especially after Julia and Weslie won their first game 15-3 in just six minutes.

“It definitely made us more nervous,” Julia said, “but we tried really hard to keep our focus.”

“We had never played in front of a crowd like that before,” Weslie added.

Julia and Weslie were able to keep their focus for eight more minutes, which was the time they needed to win the second, and deciding, game 15-6. The shuttlecock had barely hit the net and fallen to the floor, when the Xavier players on the other two courts stopped in the middle of play and rushed over to hug their teammates.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” Weslie said of the moment she and Julia won the deciding match to win the state title.

The Dozer family.

Afterward, parents posed with their daughters around the championship trophy. Danielle Dozer’s dad, Rich, former president of the Arizona Diamondbacks, had posed for similar photos exactly eight years ago to the night, when the Diamondbacks won the 2001 World Series. Rich recalled how Danielle, then age 9, ran around the Diamondbacks clubhouse spraying champagne after the dramatic Game 7 win.

“I was much more nervous tonight because it is my own daughter,” Rich said.

The Diamondbacks winning the World Series may be the greatest moment in Arizona sports history, but I have a pretty good feeling that, for Rich Dozer, it now comes in second to his daughter’s team winning the 2009 5A state badminton title. — Dan Barr

Back row: Head Coach Nancy Meyer, Danielle Mark, Danielle Dozer, Cate Welch, Carissa Pappas, Assistant Coach Susie Murphy. Front: Julia Friedman and Weslie Norris.

Xavier College Preparatory's 5A State Championship badminton team.

You’ve got to show up

One of the great lessons that sports can teach is that you have got to get up after you have been knocked down.

Danielle Mark learned that lesson Monday night at the state 5A badminton semifinals at Shadow Mountain High School. Because she did, she and her Xavier College Preparatory Gator teammates will play for the state title this Wednesday night against Mountain Pointe.

Xavier badminton doubles team Carissa Pappas (left) and Danielle Mark.

Three weeks ago, I wrote about Danielle and her doubles partner, Carissa Pappas, when they played a Saturday tournament at Chaparral High School (“What most of us don’t know about badminton”). On that day, I asked Danielle what advice she would give young girls who wanted to play badminton.

“Our coach always says, ‘You’ve got to show up,’” Danielle told me on that day. “Show up both mentally and physically.”

Well, on Monday night, Danielle was nowhere to be seen in her singles match against Chaparral’s Joelle Fang, who displayed a deft touch with drop shots and placement. Danielle was skunked in the first game 11-0 and lost the second game 11-8. The match was over before it began. Danielle was frustrated, flustered and upset with herself.

About 45 minutes later it had all turned around. Now playing doubles with Carissa, who had previously won her singles match, Danielle looked like a different player. She was confident and assertive when only a short while earlier she had looked listless and confused.

With Xavier’s other doubles team losing and Chaparral threatening to pull even in the team match, Danielle and Carissa convincingly won their doubles match in straight games, 15-2 and 15-1, and in doing so propelled their team into the state finals.

“It’s not over yet,” said Carissa after the match, “but this is amazing.”

“We have been wanting this from the get go,” said Danielle of the state title. “And now we are so close.”

Xavier will have its hands full on Wednesday with Mountain Pointe, which beat Millennium 5-3 in a spirited group of matches on the other side of the gym. If nothing else, the Mountain Pointe girls should get the tournament award for “most creative team shirts.” Theirs are black and state on the back “We put the Bad in Badminton.”

The essence of a great teammate is showing up when your team needs you the most. Danielle got up after being knocked down on Monday night and now her team moves on.

The 5A badminton state championship will be at Shadow Mountain High School, 2902 E. Shea Blvd, at 6:30pm Wednesday. Admission is $5. The championship should be highly competitive. From what I saw on Monday, if any of the girls gets knocked down, they won’t stay down for very long. — Dan Barr

Never too young to run

Most marathons now have age minimums for participants, but there was a time when 8- and 9-year-olds ran the New York City Marathon. Today’s New York Times story interviews some of those child runners from the late 1970s and several doctors who say there is still “no real medical data to say that kids should or shouldn’t run.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/sports/27marathon.html?emc=eta1