Coming together as a team

In the minutes before the start of Tuesday night’s state high school semifinal girls lacrosse game, the Chaparral Firebirds circled around their coach to hear some final words of strategy and encouragement. After head coach Jessica Livingston said a few words, the Firebirds held their sticks above their heads as team captains Makenna Pohle and Alexa Sarussi led them in a traditional pregame cheer, “Red Hot,” by yelling out the following question:

Chaparral Captains Makenna Pohle (l) and Alexa Sarussi (r) lead their team in the cheer "Red Hot."

“Our team is what?”

The rest of the team responds – “RED HOT!”

Our team is what? RED HOT!

Then all the players shout in unison, without seeming to inhale: “Our team is R-E-D RED H-O-T HOT. Once we start, we can’t be stopped! All right!”

After a split-second pause, Pohle and Sarussi then yell to their red-and-black-uniformed teammates, “When I say Red, you say Black!“

“Red!” “Black!”

“Red!” “Black!”

“When I say Fire, you say Birds!”

“Fire!” “Birds!”

“Fire!” “Birds!”

The team then concludes in unison, “Goooooo Firebirds!” before breaking the circle and trotting onto the field to start the game.

“‘Red Hot’ is our ultimate pump-up cheer,” says Livingston. “We use this cheer before we go out on the field.  It brings us together as a team, unites us as one, and gets us focused and pumped before we take the field. Our captains lead the cheer with pride, and in essence their leading the cheer symbolizes their contribution of leading our team all year.  We’ve been doing this cheer for quite some time and the longevity of the cheer shows its importance to the team because it’s not just a cheer, it’s a Chaparral tradition.”

The Xavier College Prep Gators have their own pregame cheer, charmingly titled, “Blood and Pain.” Like the Chaparral cheer, the Xavier cheer starts with two players posing a question to the rest of the team, which is huddled around them.

“Who’s gonna bring that blood and pain?”

What????

“I said…Who’s gonna bring that blood and pain?

GATORS!  Ahhhh, OOOH!”

Xavier's Arden Anderson seeks to score against Horizon in an April 30 game.

 

So what do these cheers accomplish?

“Xavier’s pregame cheer, ‘Blood and Pain’ serves several purposes,” says coach Caitlin Bebout. “First and foremost, it unites the girls. They all come together in a close huddle with their arms wrapped behind their teammates’ backs. This signifies how they will work together as a team from the very start of the game. Next, the cheer gets them pumped up for the game. Taken partially from the Phoenix Suns’ pregame warm-up, their huddle starts to sway back and forth as they build up their energy. I’m sure on some level, it’s also used to intimidate their competition, but the ultimate goal of this pregame cheer is to unite the players and get them excited for the game.”

Pregame cheers are not just for girls.  Perhaps the world’s most famous pregame cheer is done by New Zealand’s national rugby team, the All Blacks.  Since 1888, the All Blacks have performed a traditional Maori ceremonial dance called the “Haka” before every game. Until six years ago, the All Blacks did the Ka Mate, which was composed by a Maori chief in the early 1800s.

In 2005, a new Haka, the Kapa O Pango, was written for the All Blacks.  The composer of the new Haka, Derek Lardelli, has said that its purpose is “about building spiritual, physical and intellectual capacity prior to doing something very important.” Lardelli added, “It’s about building the person’s confidence inwardly, their spiritual side, and then making that spiritual side connect through the soul and coming out through the eyes and the gestures and the hands. So it’s a preparation of your physical side as well as your spiritual side.”

Nor are male pregame cheers confined to New Zealand. Locally, the Mesa High School football team does their own haka before each game.

So how effective was “Red Hot” for the Firebirds in Tuesday’s semifinal game? Pretty effective, it seems.  After leading her teammates in the cheer, Makenna Pohle scored the first of her five goals of the evening less than a minute into the game and helped lead the Firebirds to a 20-13 victory over Pinnacle High School.

After the Firebirds lined up to shake hands with the Pinnacle players, they walked to the center of the field, laid down their sticks, put their arms around each other and formed a circle, swaying back and forth to do their postgame cheer, which starts in a whisper.

“C-H-S

A little bit louder now

C-H-S

I still can’t hear you…

C-H-S

What, what?

L-A-X

A little bit louder now

L-A-X

I still can’t hear you…

L-A-X

What, what?”

So with the game over, what is the purpose of a postgame cheer? Coach Livingston explains.

“This brings us together as a team at the end,” Livingston says. “We either win or lose as a team and not as individuals. Coming together as one at the end of the game reminds us of this. No matter how great or how frustrating the game may have been, we have shared the emotion together. It’s really not even about winning or losing, instead it’s about being a family. We leave it all on the field and since we are in a circle for this cheer, we can look into each other’s eyes and it brings us back to what’s most important — each other.”

Makenna Pohle, Alexa Sarussi and the other Chaparral seniors will do “Red Hot” one last time this Friday night, when they face the Horizon Huskies for the state title at 8 p.m. on Field 16 at the Reach 11 Sports Complex, 2425 East Deer Valley Rd., in Phoenix.  It will be a rematch of last year’s state title game, which Chaparral won 21-4.  This year, however, Horizon, which easily prevailed over Corona del Sol 21-8 in Tuesday’s other semifinal game, enters the championship game as the number one seed, while Chaparral is the ranked second in the state.

While Friday night’s championship game promises to be highly competitive, with its result in doubt until the end, there little doubt that for the seniors, Friday night’s team cheers will carry a little extra energy and emotion. — Dan Barr

Postscript – On May 13, Chaparral won the state championship in a highly competitive game, defeating Horizon 14-13 in overtime.  To read more about that game, click here.

North Valley athlete defies stereotypes

Neal Walters (right) with Pinnacle High School Head Coach Dana Zupke. Photo by Daniel Friedman.

Pinnacle High School senior Neal Walters says he learned a lot of “life lessons” from his football coach, Dana Zupke. “He taught me about sitting close to the front of class, about paying attention and not being a stereotypical football player,” Walters says.

Stereotypical Walters is not.

Walters is about to graduate with a 4.33 GPA. He is a member of the National Honor Society and an official Pinnacle High School Mentor. He is also an active volunteer with the Salvation Army, Big Buddies, Feeding the Homeless, St. Mary’s Food Bank and Kitchen on the Street.

“I try to be a part of the community in any way I can,” Walters says.

As for football, Walters played tight end, defensive end and long snapper for the Pinnacle Pioneers.  In addition to being a team captain,  Walters was a first team selection in the All Desert Valley Region as both tight end and defensive end. He was also chosen as a Cox Communications Scholar Athlete of the Week and a first team National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete.

“Neal Walters exemplifies what a student athlete should be,” says Zupke. “He has set high standards for himself not only on the field, but also in the classroom. He is a leader by example as well as vocally.”

Walters credits Zupke with another important lesson that applies beyond the football field. “He told us that you get from football what you put into it, so I decided to put in a lot,” says Walters, who will continue his football career this fall at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Another Pinnacle teacher who had a huge influence on Walters was chemistry teacher Kelly Tommasino. “I first met Mrs. Tommasino when she was my junior year honors chemistry teacher. She had so much influence on me that I decided not to take a half-day my senior year, but to take AP chemistry as an elective instead,” Walter says. “What makes Mrs. Tommasino so special is her willingness to be available and help me with whatever questions I had. This past semester, I had a free first hour of school, but I used it instead to get daily tutoring from Mrs. Tommasino during her only prep period of the day. This caring attitude meant a lot to me and I now see the difference in people’s lives that results from taking a little extra time to help someone.”

Walters was selected recently as the Phoenix City Council winner for 2011 Outstanding Young Man/Woman program for District 2. As a district winner, he is one of eight male finalists who were chosen from 140 applicants for the 2011 Outstanding Young Man of the Year Award, which will be chosen Monday night, April 25 at Hilton Garden Inn, 4000 N. Central Ave. Eight girls are finalists as well for the Outstanding Young Woman of the Year Award.

Each of the eight district winners will receive a $250 scholarship. The two overall winners selected Monday night will each receive an additional $2,000 scholarship.

Not surprisingly, Walters has a few plans beyond college and football.  Here’s what he wrote as the last paragraph of his essay applying for the Outstanding Young Man of the Year Award:

“In 10 years, I see myself in Washington D.C. I plan on double majoring in politics and international relations and then going on to law school. I have always had a strong interest in government and feel that I can contribute to the betterment of the country. It’s my dream to be a U.S. Senator and having a strong background in government is essential to the base of your political mindset. I think someone diverse, intelligent and down-to-earth such as myself could do wonders in the Capitol.”

The two Arizona seats in the U.S. Senate will come up for election in 2040 and 2042. I think I know who one of the candidates may be. — Dan Barr

Girls lacrosse team selected for Women’s Division National Tournament

One of the selections to the WDNT team, Sophie Bucknell of Xavier Prep.

Twenty girls from nine high school lacrosse teams have been named to the Southwest Regional Team that will play in the Women’s Division National Tournament at Stony Brook University in New York during Memorial Day Weekend.  The team, which will play in the Schoolgirls’ Division for grades 9-11, was selected after a full day of tryouts on March 25.  The Women’s Division National Tournament, which began in 1933, is one the oldest and most prestigious women’s lacrosse events in the nation.  The head coach for the WDNT team will be Bean Callen of Xavier Prep.  The assistant coach will be Adrianne Wagner of Phoenix Country Day School.  Of the 20 girls selected, five are from Pinnacle High School, four from Chaparral and three each Corona del Sol and Desert Mountain.

Here are 20 girls names to the 2011 WNDT team:

Vanessa Fernandez, junior, Notre Dame, Attack
Sara Phister, sophomore, Mountain Pointe, Attack
Larissa Breguez, junior, Pinnacle, Midfield
Scarlett Sulliman, sophomore, Chaparral, Midfield
Alex Chamberlain, sophomore, Pinnacle, Attack
Miranda Ross, junior, Corona del Sol, Goalie
Erika Bradley, junior, Horizon, Midfield
Rachelle Mariner, junior, Gilbert, Midfield
Madison Roble, freshman, Pinnacle, Attack
Abby Dierks, junior, Pinnacle, Midfield
Kate Pederson, sophomore, Chaparral, Attack
Kaci Rood, sophomore, Desert Mountain, Midfield
Brittany Brewster, sophomore, Chaparral, Defense
Elise Anaya, junior, Chaparral, Defense
Caitlyn O’Grady, sophomore, Corona del Sol, Attack
Holly Berns, sophomore, Corona del Sol, Midfield
Elena Cuomo, junior, Desert Mountain, Defense
Elizabeth Fishman, junior, Chaparral, Midfield
Sophie Bucknell, junior, Xavier, Attack
Natalie Schellbach, junior, Pinnacle, Midfield

There were four alternates selected as well:

Nadine Bashir, sophomore, Pinnacle, Midfield
Tori Hawk, sophomore, Horizon, Goalie
Jessie Lowy, junior, Chaparral, Midfield
Megan McGuire, sophomore, Corona del Sol, Midfield

Goalie Miranda Ross of Corona del Sol High School.

Seven surgeries couldn’t stop this soccer player

Savannah Allen (15) of Paradise Valley.

Savannah Allen of Paradise Valley  first stepped onto the soccer field when she was 3 years old. She has been a dedicated soccer player for the last 10 years. Now a freshman at Pinnacle High School, she’s a member of the girls varsity soccer team.

Her dedication to soccer has been challenged by an injury from a car accident that happened when she was 4 years old. She was thrown to the floorboard of the vehicle, landing on her neck and causing nerves in her neck to tear away from her spine. This left her arm paralyzed, an injury that affected her daily. Despite multiple surgeries since the car accident, she continued to play soccer, learning to protect her arm while playing.

Post-surgery.

In June 2009, Allen underwent a surgical procedure to lengthen her upper arm through a fixator — a device that expands space between a deliberate break in her bones. The four-month process required Allen to turn a knob to expand the bone space each day, eventually resulting in two inches of new bone growth. During this treatment, Allen continued running, training and drills to maintain her stamina.

When the fixator was removed, Savannah could not play for another six weeks. On her first day back to practice, she received a standing ovation from her team and parents. Almost back to 100 percent, Savannah remains an integral part of her team, on and off the field. She faces two more surgical procedures as she continues with high school.

“I always felt part of the team,” she says. “I didn’t miss any practices or games, but it’s really hard not being part of the game. I was worried about not being at the same level as everyone else.”

A 3.7 GPA student, Savannah was on the Olympic Development Team in 2008 and traveled to Spain to participate in the Donasti Cup.

Savannah recently was selected as the PCH Sports Medicine Comeback Student Athlete of the Week. She is now eligible for the PCH Sports Medicine Comeback Student Athlete of the Year and Fan Fave Comeback Student Athlete of the Year awards, which will be handed out at a banquet in May. The awards honor outstanding young athletes who have returned to athletic competition after receiving treatment for an injury, illness, or physical limitation. This is the second year of the program, launched by Phoenix Children’s Hospital Sports Medicine Program.

Fun in the trenches

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“This event is for you guys in the trenches,” shouted Arizona State head strength coach Ben Hilgart to a gathering of about 150 offensive and defensive linemen from 17 high school football teams around the Valley. “You are here to compete and work hard, but also have some fun.”

Most people don’t know this, but the Arizona high school football season started in early May. High school teams are allowed three weeks of non-contact practice without pads before school lets out. June is the month for passing leagues, which are low-contact, no-pads games with seven players on a side. There is no blocking, no tackling and no running plays. These are controlled scrimmages in which each team gets to run 15 or 20 passing plays at a time.

Many Valley high school teams will play four to six passing league games against other schools and also participate in one or more of the passing league tournaments put on by ASU, UofA and NAU. The tournaments attract teams from around the state and allow the coaches for the universities sponsoring the tournament to walk around and evaluate some of the top football talent in the state. At ASU’s tournament on June 9, ASU head football coach Dennis Erickson spent a couple of hours walking around the fields.

Because offensive and defensive linemen are left out of passing league games, the tournaments came up with the idea of “Big Man” competitions, or what ASU strength coach Hilgart calls the “Trench League.” These competitions resemble a mixture of football strength and agility training and a Scottish Highland Games.

At ASU’s Farmington Stadium softball field, the linemen for 17 high school teams participated in five drills: the Farmer’s Walk, a relay race involving dragging 180 pounds of iron chains behind you; a clean-and-press weight lift:, an agility running drill; the Tire Flip, a relay race in which a player flips a 160 pound tire in front of him as he races back and forth; and the Backward Sledge, a relay race in which player run backwards while pulling several plates of dead weight across the field.

The 17 teams accumulated points for each of the five drills, which seeded them for the final competition — the tug of war. Chandler triumphed in the tug of war finals against St. Mary’s, while Liberty High School won the overall competition for the evening, followed by Chandler, Chaparral and Pinnacle.

My father’s high school football coach had a saying that is just as true today as it was 70 years ago, when players wore leather helmets: “If the offensive line does its job, the backs should have to pay admission.”

This fall, their teammates who play the “skill” positions, such as quarterback and running back, will undoubtably get far more attention than these players do. But on a summer night in June, the big guys had some fun.

The next major passing league tournament will be the Fiesta Bowl 7-on-7 Passing Tournament, which will take place next Friday and Saturday, June 25 and 26, at the Brophy Sports Complex at 4800 N. 7th Street.  Spectators are welcome and there is no admission.  — Story and photos by Dan Barr | Video by Robert Balint

The tug of war champion Chandler Wolves.

Gatorade guys

We recently received news from two Valley school districts about athletes who were named Gatorade Arizona Players of the Year.

George Malki of Pinnacle High School in Phoenix has been named the Gatorade Arizona Boys Soccer Player of the Year, and is the second Pinnacle student to receive the honor. Taylor Kaczmarek, pitcher for the varsity baseball team at Desert Ridge High School in Mesa, was named Gatorade Arizona Baseball Player of the Year.

The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.

George Maliki.

Malki, a 5-foot-11, 155-pound senior midfielder and forward led the Pioneers to the Class 5A-Division II state championship this past season, recording 22 goals and 26 assists. A 2009 National Soccer Coaches Association of America Youth All-American selection for the club season, Malki is a 2010 First Team All-State selection for Pinnacle. The nation’s No. 32 recruit in the Class of 2010 as rated by TopDrawerSoccer.com, Malki spent his junior season traveling as a member of the United State’s under-17 national soccer team. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on scholarship this fall at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

At Pinnacle, Malki has maintained a 3.90 GPA in the classroom. A peer tutor, he has volunteered locally as part of a fundraising campaign to benefit brain tumor research and as a youth soccer coach. His coach is Brock Heykoop.

Taylor Kaczmarek.

Kaczmarek had already been recognized as the Arizona Baseball Coaches Association Player of the Year and East Valley Region Player of the Year. He graduated with a 3.519 GPA, completing engineering courses in the Project Lead the Way program. He also volunteers as a youth baseball instructor.

“This is the second consecutive year Desert Ridge High School has won this state award,” Kaczmarek said. “Last year it was Jake Barrett, who was the Gatorade Player of the Year for baseball.”

He has received a full-ride scholarship to South Mountain Community College and a “a few offers” from Division 1 schools, ” but I haven’t signed yet.” He plans to major in mechanical engineering. — Dan Barr

US Lacrosse names Arizona girls to All-American teams

US Lacrosse, the governing body for men’s, women’s and youth lacrosse, has named four Arizona girls as high school All-Americans and eight girls as Academic All-Americans.  US Lacrosse defines an All-American as a player who exhibits superior skills and techniques and possesses exceptional game sense and knowledge of the game of lacrosse, as well as excellent sportsmanship.

Named as 2010 All-Americans are Laura Eckhardt, Madison Pohle and Makenna Pohle from the state champion Chaparral Firebirds.  Lauren Littleton from Pinnacle High School was named an Honorable Mention All American.

A US Lacrosse Academic All-American is a player who exhibits exemplary lacrosse skills and excellent sportsmanship on the field, while also representing high standards of academic achievement in the classroom and making significant contributions of service to the school or community.

Arizona girls named as 2010 Academic All-Americans are Diana Hsu Schron and Ashley Sylvester from Phoenix Country Day School, Lauren Littleton from Pinnacle and Jessica Prescott, Hilary Novatt, Laura Eckhardt, Madison Pohle and Makenna Pohle from Chaparral.                                                                                                                                               — Dan Barr

Three Valley Girls Lacrosse Players Named Among Top Players in the Western U.S.

Chaparral’s Madison Pohle and Laura Eckhardt have been listed among the top 25 high school girls lacrosse players in the western United States by West Side Lacrosse.  Both Madison and Laura play midfield for the Firebirds.  Jenn McDonald, a midfielder with Pinnacle High School, made the honorable mention list of the WSL’s Elite 25 list. 

Jenn, a junior and member of the defending state champions, recently became the third female player from Arizona to commit to play Division I lacrosse.  Jenn plans to enroll at High Point University in North Carolina in the fall of 2011.