Cheerleaders head to Nationals but first comes Cheerio-Rama Monday tune-up at the high school

January 31, 2024 at 11:32 p.m.

One of the stunts performed by the Port Chester High School varsity cheerleaders during a competition. (Courtesy photo of John Gonzalez)

It has been a winter of sports discontent for all Port Chester High School Rams and Lady Rams varsity teams because they all have losing records except one—and that lonely one is Port Chester's regional and local championship cheerleading team which is heading for the upcoming national championships at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

But first comes the Cheerleading Competition against multiple schools Saturday (2/3) at the high school at 9 a.m. and a Cheerio-Rama Nationals Send Off tune-up featuring all the Port Chester cheerleading teams Monday (2/5) at 8 p.m. there as well.

And that is something to cheer about during a winter season of local scholastic sports disillusionment when there has been little to cheer about except for the major accomplishments of Port Chester's cheerleaders.

National, regional ranking

The rah-rah teams are 10th-ranked nationally and recent winners of regional tumbling and non-tumbling coed championships that secured their place in the Nationals Feb. 9-12 for both the varsity and junior varsity teams. And, in an unprecedented trifecta, those two varsity and JV teams also swept a New Rochelle Cheerleading Competition as did the up-and-coming Port Chester Mod Squad.

    The Port Chester High School varsity cheerleaders. Back row, from left: Amy Navas, Kelly Pascale, Elizabeth Magana, John Borzoni, Mia Pagnotta, Madison Mollica, Myisha Cruz, Natalie Ceruzzi, Kate Richardson, Fiona Lovallo, Charlotte Burke, Melina Morban. Front row, from left: Christian Flores, Valeryn Deras, Angela Esquival, Mayelin Gonzalez, Allison Recinos, Allegra Burke, Olivia Tejeda, Mariana Gamez, Adrian Osorio.
 Courtesy of John Gonzalez   

That kind of cheerleading show of new-found prowess up and down the line doesn't just happen.

It takes a village, community and school support, hard-working student-athletes and, in this case, a dedicated cadre of teachers who have made a difference that has sent the cheerleader program soaring to new heights.

That cadre has been headed for the past year by the upbeat new head cheerleading coach John Gonzalez, a master cheerleading instructor who is a scholarship graduate of the nationally-ranked Hofstra Cheerleading Program and has danced with the pro-basketball Knicks and Liberty cheerleading squads at Madison Square Garden and the Barclay Center respectively as well as in the cast of Disney's "The Lion King" and "High School Musical" in Orlando among other accolades that include TV appearances, national and international cheerleading championships and instructing master cheerleading teaching classes.

Innovative approach

Gonzalez has already added boys to the previous all-girls team as well as jazzed up tumbling acts among other innovations and only he knows what else he has up his cheerleading sleeve and microphone.

And that definitely deserves a shout out as do the other cheerleading coaches—from newcomer and former Port Chester High School cheerleader Leah Yusi to Candace Calabrese, a special education instructor in the Port Chester School District for more than a quarter of a century which includes 15 years of cheerleading experience. They have helped mold the championship-caliber Port Chester teams made up of 21 varsity athletes (including three males) with 15 performers on the JV and 28 on the Mod Squad.

But those numbers don't add up to why Port Chester cheerleaders have become a national power that rivals the school's famed marching band.

Because to really tell the story you have to name the names that flesh out the numbers, including how they helped raise the $2,100 it will take to send each cheerleader to participate in the Florida cheerleading competitive showcase at Disney World.

The winning formula

You don't have to take our word for how good the Rams cheerleaders are because verbal descriptions only go so far. And you don't have to go far to see for yourselves how good they are because there is a rare opportunity to see the local talent put on a show. It will take place during a "Nationals Send Off" Monday (2/5) at 7 p.m. in the high school gym with all the teams strutting their stuff, including the moves that helped them win championships on a regional and local level.

Gonzalez ticked off those major accomplishments as a kind of preview of the show to come.

This year the team once again swept the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) Regional Championship with first place wins in the Varsity Coed Non-Tumbling Game Day Division and the Varsity Coed Non-Tumbling Traditional Division, thus securing an invitation to the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships at Walt Disney World. The junior varsity team also won first place in their division at the same competition and also secured an invitation to Nationals.

"Last year was our first year having one male on the varsity team and one on the junior varsity team," Gonzalez said. "This year we doubled male representation with three males on varsity and one on junior varsity showing the community that representation truly matters. We recently also swept the local New Rochelle Cheerleading Competition with all program teams winning first place (modified, junior varsity & varsity)."

The key performers

Some key athletes on the varsity team included the three males: seniors Adrian Osorio and Christian Flores and junior Johnny Borzoni, senior captains Allison Recinos, Allegra Burke and junior Mayelin Gonzalez along with junior Fiona Lovallo and Madison Mollica, an eighth grader. Mod Squad high achievers include Devora Garcia, Alexis Patafio, Emma Santos, Marley Saunders and Zoe Sosa.

    John Gonzalez when he was a cheerleader for Cheer New York. He is the head cheerleading coach at Port Chester High School.
 Courtesy of John Gonzalez 

Gonzalez has been impressed by the athleticism and talent of the Port Chester student-athletes. He first spotted those traits when he had given the Port Chester varsity team a private cheerleading camp while he was working with the Universal Cheerleaders Association as a camp instructor a few years ago. He noticed all the potential the athletes had and showed. "At that moment I knew that Port Chester would be my new teaching home if ever given the opportunity to coach at PCHS," Gonzalez recalled. He heard about the school's head coach cheerleading opening through some Hofstra fraternity brothers who were wired into the local physical education teachers and coaches network. "The stars aligned, the opportunity became available, I interviewed, the stars aligned, and I got the job," he remembered.

Strength and conditioning

He immediately began making changes. For example: the team now practices four days a week with the fifth day dedicated to training at the high school gym with the school's strength and conditioning coach Corey Crane for the first time. "Coach Crane has truly helped the program build their athleticism and it is the first time cheerleading has been included in Strength & Conditioning, a requirement I instilled when I came into the program as head cheerleading coach/program head last season," Gonzalez said. "Sometimes we hold weekend practices and practices over various school breaks."

And the practices go well beyond the usual game day cheerleading practice routine that includes a band dance, a situational sideline cheer, a crowd-leading cheer and a rendition of the high school fight song.

In the Nationals, for example, the Port Chester teams will be competing in a new division this year, Varsity Coed Non-Tumble Division II Game Day and Varsity Coed Non-Tumble Division II Traditional. The junior varsity team will be competing in the Junior Varsity Coed Non-Tumble Division II Game Day. These divisions are for schools with less than 1200 students that do not have tumbling in their routines and have a minimum of one male, according to Gonzalez.

Fundraising efforts

Gonzalez is optimistic that the Port Chester teams could well improve on their rating as the nation's 10th-ranked team. He noted that having a shot at performing at Disney World took as much fundraising effort as the sweat equity that went into the practices to get them there. The team participated in a myriad of fundraising opportunities to raise money for their Nationals trip which included a partnership with Salsa Picante Restaurant where a portion of sales went to the program, Gonzalez said. There were also car washes, candy sales, raffles and hosting a Winter Cheerleading Competition and co-hosting a Fall Cheerleading Competition with Section One. Also T-shirt donations where families/friends/companies donated a tiered amount and will have their names/company's name on the team's Nationals t-shirt. The cost per athlete is close to $2,100, "so you can imagine all the fundraising needed to offset the cost of athletes’ families paying out of pocket," Gonzalez said. "We leave for Nationals on Wednesday, Feb. 7 and return on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Nationals is always at Walt Disney World where we will stay at the All Star Music Resort."

Gonzalez hopes the Port Chester teams will make the cheerleading equivalent of beautiful music while performing in the competitions in Orlando because he knows what it takes to get there. He started his dance career at the late age of 14 as a scholarship student at June’s School of Dance in New York City where he trained in ballet, partnering, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and contemporary techniques. As a student there he also received scholarships to various dance intensives and workshops like Dance America and Dance Olympus and won various titles and awards at dance competitions/conventions. His experiences and training brought him to Hofstra University on a dance scholarship. During his time at Hofstra, he performed as a back-up dancer for recording artist Renee Stakey and staged works by Robin Becker, Amy Marshall, Lance Westegard, and Dyane Harvey-Salaam to name a few.

Impressive background

While at Hofstra, he also became a part of the National Champion Hofstra University Cheerleading program to add to his All-Star Cheerleading career which also includes stints with the Just Cheer All Stars and Cheer New York. His training in dance and cheerleading helped him land a spot with the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) New York Liberty Torch Patrol at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn and the NBA (National Basketball Association) New York Knicks 7th Avenue Squad where he performed at all Madison Square Garden home games as well as in television appearances on Good Day New York, Good Morning America and Total Request Live. His time in NYC ended when he auditioned for Walt Disney World and landed a spot as a dancer for shows like “The Lion King” and “High School Musical” on his first try.

Currently, he is a staff instructor and judge with The Universal Cheerleaders Association and The Spirit Consultants, a judge/master teacher for Dancers Inc. Dance Conventions & Competitions, a judge/master teacher for Step Up 2 Dance Conventions & Competitions, certified dance instructor through Dance Educators of America, a certified cheerleading coach through USA Cheer, and a member of The National Dance Educators Organization, all while teaching dance full-time at Ascend Charter School. He is still performing as a Timeless Torch with the WNBA New York Liberty at the Barclay Center and as a cheerleading coach and cheerleader, he has won various national and international championships.

So you might say John Gonzalez has been training all his life to be in a position to lead Port Chester to a national cheerleading championship in the Disney Nationals version of the Big Dance. He is ready for his closeup and has tried to get Port Chester's cheerleading teams ready for theirs. But, whatever happens, win or lose, top 10 finish or not, Gonzales and his cheerleading Rams and Lady Rams have already done themselves proud and made Port Chester prouder.