Meredith Henriquez, who has been cheerleading since she was 3 years old and coaching the Saint Augustine’s Catholic Youth Organization’s (CYO) three traveling teams for 18 years, took part in a happy occasion last week. She got to present her National Championship all-star cheerleading team to the parents who attended the “welcome home” celebration for the girls on April 22 in the Saint Augustine’s School gymnasium on 40th Street and New York Avenue in Union City.
Saint Augustine’s CYO, based in Union City, has three traveling teams, split by division. The “junior prep” is for girls in kindergarten through third grade, the junior team is for fourth to ninth graders, and the senior team is for sixth through twelfth graders.
This year, in a national competition held on April 6 in Williamsburg, Va., the junior cheerleading team won second runner up and the senior team won the grand championship title.
Girls from all over Hudson County are able to try out for the team, and some came from as far as Ridgefield Park to be a part of the team.
Union City Mayor Brian Stack and the members of his new commission ticket, Tilo Rivas, Michael Leggiero, Chris Irrizarry and Luis Martin, were also at the event last week.
Ready for competition
The all-star team practices all year and attends competitions throughout the state on Sundays.
“The competition was exhilarating,” said Daniela Viera, a senior at North Bergen High School who has been on the team for five years. “But the competition wasn’t as great as the practices we had in the gym. Competition is just a perk.”
The girls practice two hours a day three times a week and a fourth day for three hours.
The girls travel throughout New Jersey for competitions from January through March. The junior and senior teams then compete in a national competition at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Va.
“We have won eight national championships,” said Florence Morrell, who has worked with the team for about 40 years, adding that the Junior Prep team won the national competition in Madison Square Garden in 2000.
“We would bring the [Junior Prep team] to Virginia with us,” said Morrell. “But there just isn’t a division for them.”
More like a family
Sol DeJesus, a senior at Union Hill High School in Union City, joined the team when she was 13. DeJesus, who was a cheerleader for Washington School in Union City before joining the Saint Augustine All Star team, joined after her Washington School Coach told her she was a member of the all-star team.
“All girls get along here,” said De Jesus. “It is a family place.”
Some of the girls start in kindergarten and stay with the squad through their senior year in high school.
“These have been the best five years of my life,” said Viera, who will stay with the Saint Augustine’s team to coach next year.
While other teams require that girls know how to do a back handspring or a perfect toe-touch, the girls on the Saint Augustine’s squad, as well as Henriquez, agree that the most important aspect of this team is dedication.
“They care more about your dedication,” DeJesus said. “If they see that you can learn, then you will make the team.”
“We train them,” said Henriquez, adding that the girls train in stunting, discipline and jumps as well as discipline and dedication.
Henriquez also runs a cheerleading school in Union City. Moves By Merri, which opened last year, is located on the fifth floor of 540 39th St., behind the Hess Station.
Classes offered at the school include Cheerleading Floor Gymnastics, Cheerleading Fundamentals, Hip-Hop Dance, and aerobics. Any girl who enrolls for classes at Moves By Merri has the opportunity to try out for the CYO team.