Friday Afternoon Cheer & Dance

"West Volusia Wolves Say Thanks, Pop Warner!"

All good things come to an end. Just ask Coach Debby Rood of the West Volusia Wolves Midget Dance team. Today's final appearance at the Pop Warner Cheer & Dance Nationals -2004 will mark the end of Debby's seven-year involvement with Pop Warner. "This is it for us," said Debby, " and we want to do well." Last year, the Wolves took 5th at Nationals, and they're hoping to place today in the Midget Dance Competition for 2004.

Most squads that I have spoken with throughout this week continually mention the credo "hard work." And, it's "hard work" that helped Debby to forge a great relationship between herself and the girls that has evolved steadily over the past seven years.

Debby said, “Today will be very difficult as we reflect on our time here with Pop Warner. I am going to have a hard time emotionally because this is it for me with them. They are all like my daughters. Their Pop Warner experience has helped them to grow emotionally, physically, and also educationally - encouraging them to do well with their school work . The girls have become such great friends . And, they've also been able to bring other girls into the program."

All the girls on the West Volusia Wolves plan to make things happen for themselves as a result of being with Pop Warner. One of the girls is going to be a high school cheerleader. Another team member stated that she was interested in joining her high school dance team. Said Debby, "It is pretty incredible to think that all of this is happening because they stayed involved with Pop Warner; especially during the years that they were unable to take advantage of other community resources."

At the start of this season, Valerie Wanamaker- the Wolves Trainer- told us that she tailored the Wolves special hip-hop routine to her team's strengths. "I tried to put in things that I knew they were going to like and that the judges would be looking for. I put things in that were difficult, but that I knew our squad could handle technique-wise. I also wanted something fun that they would want to do , something that they would want to work on at practice and do at home all the time." Guess what? It worked!

Coaches Debby and Valerie added," With Pop Warner Dance, it is so competitive and there are so many other teams. Some will do triples or doubles. We try to put things in that are challenging. But you don't want to put in things that they might not be able to understand or do. We want things that are going to help them get better. Their Pop Warner Dance experience is going to help them later on, as they continue to be involved in dance. Who knows, maybe some will even want to be Pop Warner dance coaches themselves one day."

Coach Debby was a Pop Warner cheerleader herself for four years . She loved it so much that it was one of the big reasons she got involved in coaching. Said Debby, "I decided to give back. I had a trainer who helped me and now I am on the other side and I know how much it truly makes a difference." Congratulations and good luck to Coach Debby Root, Trainer Valerie Wanamaker and the entire West Volusia Midget Dance team!

Story by Erin Katherine Sykes