Middlesex County cheerleaders keep Snapple Bowl tradition alive
by WoodbridgeFootball.com / MyCentralJersey.com / NJ.com on 07/15/16
WOODBRIDGE - Of the 40 Middlesex County cheerleaders that met on Monday at Woodbridge High School to begin manicuring their chants and routine before taking part in the mid-summer tradition of MyCentralJersey.com’s Snapple Bowl, three congregated to follow a family tradition, as well.
Samantha Jaurez, Devin Lissy and Olivia Anderson each have siblings that participated in previous Snapple Bowls.
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Anderson, who will cheer in Snapple Bowl XXIII on her home turf at Barrons Stadium on July 21, is the younger sister of Kyle Anderson who split time as quarterback in Snapple Bowl XIX (2012) and went on to fill the back-up quarterback role at The College of New Jersey before he was moved to wide receiver.
“He’s really excited because it’s going to be on our home field,” Olivia Anderson said about her brother’s sentiments. “He was like ‘oh my gosh, it’s going to be so different watching you, it’s going to be so much fun.’”
“I have always wanted to do it because I knew the cause it was going out to and I knew how important that was - I’m really excited to meet the kids,” Anderson, who will cheer for the University of Delaware beginning this fall, said of the Middlesex County squad’s pending visit to the Lakeview School. “It’s good to see where all of this is going to.”
All proceeds of the Snapple Bowl benefit Children's Specialized Hospital and the Lakeview School, a program of the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities.
Last year, Bishop Ahr’s Juarez sat in the stands of Kean University’s Alumni Stadium and watched as her sister Jenna represented Middlesex. Middlesex High School’s Lissy did the same in 2012 from the East Brunswick High School bleachers as her sister Tomi Lee donned Middlesex County colors.
“I get to follow in her footsteps, but do my own thing while keeping the tradition,” Samantha Jaurez said. “It’s definitely a really nice feeling to be picked for this, especially because of the cause it’s going for. When my coaches told me that they were going to send me to (the Snapple Bowl) I was really excited and it’s a really nice feeling knowing that we’ll be helping out the Lakeview school, and those kids will get something better from this.”
Sporting navy blue T-shirts with the words “Middlesex All-Star Cheer” in orange across the front and the Snapple Bowl logo on the back, cheerleaders from 20 Greater Middlesex Conference schools practiced together for the first time. Despite the unfamiliarity of the coaches, teammates and routine, the girls looked incredibly poised.
Middlesex County squad coaches Colleen Meyers and Jackie Cassidy, who teach and coach at Spotswood High School, both agreed that the girls looked “fantastic.”
“Their tumbling skills are probably one of the most elite that we’ve had as a whole,” Cassidy, who cheered in the charity all-star classic in 2008, said.
“There is a lot of standing tucks and there is going to be a lot of action that we’re going to be able to do in this dance,” Meyers, who has coached the Middlesex County team for over two decades, added.
The two-minute, half-time routine - which is choreographed to a mashup of popular Top 40 hits including Adele’s Hello, Drake’s Hotline Bling, Fetty Wap’s 679 and many more - will start with tumbling passes before transitioning into a synchronized dance.
The all-star cheerleaders will showcase their talents from the sidelines as well, where they will thrill Middlesex County fans with a variety of chants.
TAKE PART
What: MyCentralJersey.com Snapple Bowl XXIII, New Jersey's most successful charity all-star football game.
Where: Woodbridge High School.
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 21.
Participants: Recently graduated high school senior players and cheerleaders from Middlesex and Union counties.
About the event
Beneficiaries: All proceeds from the game, which has raised more than $535,000 since its inception, benefit Children's Specialized Hospital and the Lakeview School, a program of the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities.
Practice venues: Woodbridge High School (Middlesex County All-Stars) and Union High School (Union County All-Stars).
Key dates: Middlesex County All-Stars visit the Lakeview School in Edison and Union County All-Stars visit Children's Specialized Hospital in Mountainside on July 18; Snapple Bowl banquet at Pines Manor restaurant in Edison July 20.
Tickets: Can be purchased at the gate for $10 or at each practice site during practices.
Previewing the game: Leading up to Snapple Bowl XXII, the Home News Tribune, Courier News and MyCentralJersey.com will feature at least one story daily, as well as videos.
Game coverage: Look for a game story, a notebook, a Middlesex County sidebar, a Union County sidebar, an A1 story, a photo gallery and video highlights from Snapple Bowl XXII in the Home News Tribune, Courier News and at MyCentralJersey.com.
Social media: Follow us via Twitter @MyCJ_Sports and @SnappleBowl for updates and to interact with reporters and Snapple Bowl XXII game director Marcus Borden.
MyCentralJersey.com Snapple Bowl XXII official web site: Can be found at https://worknotes.com/NJ/SouthRiver/SnappleBowl/
