Junior Pee Wee Cheerleaders Eye Championship

Six little local girls, ages 8 and 9, are eyeing their sport’s biggest competition. And while they might be underdogs, they’re determined to give a shout out to Wildomar on a big stage in Florida.

The Wildomar Pop Warner Junior Pee Wee Cheer Squad beat out teams from across the western United States over the last two months to win a bid to the 2011 Pop Warner National Cheer & Dance Championships in Orlando beginning Dec. 5.

The six cheerleaders hail from Wildomar, Lake Elsinore and Murrieta.

“Never in our wildest imagination did we think we would get this far. We're just a small squad,” said Head Coach Misty Hoage. “We were just blown away.”

Pop Warner cheer is focused on sidelines cheerleading, not cheerleading competition, Coach Hoage explained. But as football season winds down, the cheerleaders get their chance to vie. In October, the Wildomar squad placed second in the local Palomar Conference, then, on Nov. 19, the team took third in regional competition against squads from Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.

This is Hoage’s first year as head coach and, although she cheered as a girl and now has a daughter in cheerleading, the season has been a whirlwind.

“We just found out we’re going to the finals right before Thanksgiving,” she said. “It’s amazing for these six little girls.”

Coach Hoage said the team’s routine for the Championships is choreographed to tunes from tween heartthrobs the Jonas Brothers and Mitchel Musso.

Singer Katy Perry was in the musical running at one point as well.

“I want that California Girl song with the bikinis on top,” implored one Pee Wee cheerleader.

But the sexy songtress was nixed by Coach Hoage: “No, no, no!”

Coach Hoage is hoping locals will be wishing her team well in Florida, but she’s also reaching out to the community for support. One of the cheerleader moms – a single parent – does not have the resources to send her daughter to Orlando. The team is scrambling to raise the necessary $1,200. Through donations, Coach Hoage said the squad has raised about $400 to date, but is asking local businesses and community members to join the cause.

“It will be her birthday Dec. 7,” Coach Hoage said of the cheerleader the squad is pulling for. The girl turns 9. “It would be something for her.”

If you are interested in contributing, contact Wildomar Pop Warner executive board member and treasurer Craig Santiago at 951-813-1555 or contact Coach Hoage at 760-216-7247.