There's plenty to celebrate for No. Brunswick Indian teams
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - For the first time in as long as the executive board members can remember, two Adams Athletic Club Pop Warner Indian football teams made it to the playoffs and a cheerleading team nearly advanced to nationals this season.

The Junior Pee Wee football team lost in their last championship game, going as far as to claim the Central Jersey Pop Warner Division II South Conference title. The Midget football team proceeded after the regular season, losing in the first round of their playoff series. The Pee Wee cheerleaders advanced to the eastern regionals in November, one of three teams to represent New Jersey, but did not qualify to travel to Florida.

"You look on the side and see the stands full and [the sideline is] five people deep - it's incredible, an incredible feeling," head football coach and executive board member Tony Sidotti said. "The diverse community we are - we have different walks of life, and it's incredible."

The North Brunswick Pop Warner program began in the early 1960s with Midget and Pee Wee teams with cheerleaders at both levels. They developed with the sponsorship of the Adams A.C. organization, an athletic and social club that became incorporated in town in April 1962.

There are currently 150 boys involved with the Pop Warner program, ranging from the instructional levels of flag football and Mitey Mites to the older, competitive levels of Junior Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Junior Midgets and Midgets. The category assignment is based on age and weight, with some overlapping possible. Most students either join the Linwood Middle School team from sixth to eighth grades or continue at the high school level, but Pop Warner does allow ninth-graders to play if they are not involved with a school team.

"Everything overlaps to keep everybody safe so they have a good, safe time. When they get to the high school competitive level, then they look for strong, competitive players," Pop Warner President Brad Pastrick said.

Beginning Aug. 1, practice is held five nights each week with games on the weekends. The teams play a minimum of eight games per season with either a playoff run or three Pride Bowl games. Although the season is short, the physical training is intense, also requiring that Pop Warner participants maintain a C grade average or higher.

"The kids are supposed to bring up their level to stay with the program," Pastrick said. "It is based on fair play and having fun. ... We're about running a safe, organized program for the benefit of children both athletically and scholastically. It's one of the things Pop Warner is all about."

"We really stress teamwork in football," football coordinator Matt Mehalick continued. "No one player should be treated any differently than anyone else. It's a team sport. That's what we stress: teamwork. Discipline and respect are probably the core of what we do there."

To provide such an outlet for girls as well as the boys, every level of Pop Warner football is required to have a cheerleading squad for each team.

The 20 fifth- and sixth-grade Pee Wee team members placed second at the Central Jersey Cheerleading competition at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton on Oct. 14. On Oct. 28 they advanced to the State Qualifiers, only the second time in the history of the program for girls of this level. That week, the father of coach Diane Pastrick passed away, affecting the entire team. Yet that Saturday, the team went back to Trenton and despite having a stunt fall in the middle of the routine, they placed second again.

The team continued on to one more regional competition against squads from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, again only the second North Brunswick Pee Wee squad to reach this level since the 1960s. However, the cheerleaders had another obstacle to face.

"One of our cheerleaders was ill in the hospital and we did not know if she would compete," Pastrick said. "This happening two days before our competition, we had to change our entire routine. Out of approximately 15 squads, my girls placed ninth, and I could not be more proud of them. They have really set a high standard and I hope that next year my girls do place and go to Florida. But I cannot be more proud of them for what they have achieved this year."

Pastrick said the efforts of fellow coaches Blaire Carino, Brianna Iverson Heather Sivetz and Nikki McGuiness assisted the girls as well.

"We're building a family," cheer coordinator Marie Krause said. "We're building something kids can look at and take with them. In a big community, you feel like you belong to something. It becomes another extended family for kids and it means the world to those kids."

The North Brunswick Indians family includes players, parents and coaches, all of whom are volunteers. The coaches get "paid with cheese fries, and if they smile a mile, maybe they'll get a Coke with it," according to Pastrick.

Pop Warner is a self-supporting organization that relies on donations from local residents and businesses to fund equipment, uniforms and necessary additives.

As a result, a key goal for the off-season will be to gain the support of more local businesses. This year alone, 14 area companies contributed; however, the more community involvement, the better. Last year the football uniforms were replaced, but the cheer squads need new uniforms as well.

In addition, by 2008 a turf field is expected at Sabella Park, the home of the Indians.

The Pop Warner representatives believe the appeal of the sports is the glorification on television, the obsession to be the next big NFL star as well as the camaraderie and friendships that are developed. Therefore, their job is to recruit players and keep them involved with the program. They are constantly brainstorming new ways to raise funds, help parents who may not be able to pay all of the associated costs, and keep it fun for the children. They also want to increase each team's win-loss ratio, bring up power points to increase positions in the standings, and expand enrollment.

"We are trying to see more and more kids start at the beginning and go all the way through the program," Krause said.

Yet the athletic prowess of the participants stresses more importantly the game of life.

"What we stress is that you don't want to give up," Mehalick said. "Giving up on the practice field or giving up on the field is like giving up in life. Nothing comes easy, it's stressful. It's hard to get to practice every day, and we understand the coordinators and the coaches are going to have some tough times, but at the end of the season, what we're here for is that the hard work will pay off in the end. It's sort of how life goes, too."

For more information visit www.NBIndians.com. Registration for the upcoming season begins Jan. 20.