All home games are played on the Montgomery High School Turf Field located at 1016 Route 601, Skillman, NJ. Games start first thing in the morning on Sundays starting with the youngest team to the oldest team.
Typical schedule is as follows:
9:00 Flag
10:30 Mitey Mite
12:00 Junior Pee Wee
1:30 Pee Wee
3:00 Junior Midget
4:30 Midget
*******All Times subject to change*******
Important Dates:
August 1, 2012-Practice Begins
MVC competition for all squads
October 13 or 20, 2012 – location TBD
Regional Qualifiers Sun National Bank Trenton, NJ
November 4, 2012
Regional Championships Sun National Bank Trenton, NJ
November 17th JPW & Jr. Midget
November 18th PW & Midget
Nationals Disney World, Florida
December 3rd-10th, 2012
MONTGOMERY YOUTH FOOTBALL/CHEERLEADING ASSOCIATION
CHEERLEADING GUILDELINES and REQUIREMENTS
WELCOME to MYFCA. We are anxiously anticipating a fun and rewarding season again this year. We think that you and your daughter will find this to be a very rewarding experience. Following is general information required of each cheerleader/parent. Please be sure to read through this carefully - it will answer most of your questions prior to the start of the season.
OVERVIEW
The Montgomery Youth Football and Cheerleading Association is a Pop Warner league(www.popwarner.com) with Montgomery being a member of the Mountain Valley Conference (www.mvcpopwarner.org). We are part of Pop Warner’s Eastern Region(www.easternregion.org). There are 6 levels; Flag, Mitey Mite, Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Midget & Midget. Ages for participation range from 5 years old to 15 years old with Flag being the youngest group (a child’s age on 7/31/2012 is their age for the season).
REGISTRATION
Registration this year is available online. The cost is $175 for Flag Cheer and $210 for all other levels. After July 1st a $50 late fee will be charged. The family maximum of $600 is automatically computed during the registration process, no need to fill out any additional forms.. At the first week of practice (August 1st), a parental release with signature, parental code of conduct with signature, copy of birth certificate, copy of last year’s complete report card (ALL PAGES), and medical release form/doctors note-signed by physician must be turned into your team commissioner. If not received, your child will not be able to participate-this is a Pop Warner rule. Pop Warner regulates that we may have only 35 people on each squad. There are no try-outs for Pop Warner, therefore, registration is on a first come, first serve basis. Forms will print when you register, additional forms are located on our website myfca.org The Medical Form must be dated in 2012 by the doctor, no exceptions.
EMAIL
We find the most effective form of communication from us, to you, is through email. Please make sure we have your current email address upon registration. If you do not have email, we suggest you arrange with someone on your squad to receive all the updates as necessary. You may email us at any time with changes/updates or questions at montywildcats@comcast.net . For updated information regarding the Montgomery Youth Football/Cheerleading Association, log onto MYFCA.org
SQUAD ASSIGNMENTS
After registration is complete, your daughter will be assigned to a squad. Placement of the girls is primarily done by birth date, then years of participation in Pop Warner. Entire grades may not be on the same squad for multiple reasons. Understand that all squad assignments are for the safety of the girls.
ATTENDANCE
We are aware that August is a popular month to vacation; however, we do request that vacations be avoided during August. In order for the coaches to maintain a safe environment for all girls, it is most important that they attend each practice. Each person plays a role in the overall routine, and when 1 person is missing, the entire squad suffers as the routine cannot be performed as planned.
The only acceptable excuse will be illness or family emergency. After 4 unexcused absences, the participant will be given a warning and she may lose her position in the routine. Additionally, the Cheer Commissioner will be informed so that a conference can be scheduled with a parent to discuss future participation/attendance.
If your child has an injury during the season, she may remain part of the squad, there is no requirement by Pop Warner to remove her from the squad.
PRACTICE
Practice will begin on August 1st for all squads at the Montgomery Middle School field. Practice will be Monday-Friday nights from 6:00 – 8:00pm for the Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Midget and Midget squads , your coach will notify you of any changes. (No more than 10 scheduled hours per week, not including one 15 minute water break per practice) Mitey Mite and Flag may practice only 3 nights per week based on the coach’s discretion. Daytime practice is a possibility as indoor space become available.
Once school begins, practice will be cut down to 2 or 3 nights per during the week and/or Saturday and held at one of the schools or Saturday mornings at the field, depending upon the coach’s schedule. (No more than 6 scheduled hours per week, not including one 15 minute water break per practice).
Specific days, times and locations will be posted soon. Keep in mind, once we are in the schools, if there is no school, or a back to school night at scheduled school, there will be no practice unless notified by your coach of an alternate practice location
Games will be played every Sunday for the months of September and October and the beginning of November. The first game is usually during the last weekend in August and no game being played Labor Day weekend. The final game schedule will not be available until sometime in August. Unlike recreation sports, all of our games are played against other towns, the schedule cannot be finalized until all the towns have finalized their team roster and reserved space at their game locations.
In the event of a playoff or bowl game, cheerleaders are required to attend. We will notify you as soon as we are aware of any additional games that the football teams are going to participate in. A squad may not leave during a game, and must be present at all games otherwise our football team will have to forfeit the game.
COMPETITION
The Mountain Valley Conference Competition will be in the middle of October (Exact date and location are TBD). The Flag and Mitey Mite squad will exhibit a performance. The Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Midget and Midget squads will compete in a formal judged competition against other cheerleaders in Mountain Valley Conference. For the competitive squads, placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in this competition can lead to additional competitions among other New Jersey/Regional/National squads. If this occurs, the season would be continued for those squads. Currently, the advanced competitions are scheduled for November 4th and November 17th and 18th with the ultimate competition being the second week of December in Disney during the week of December 3rd.
National Accomplishments
2006 First squad sent
2007 Midgets 1st Place
2009 Junior Pee Wee 3rd Place
2010 Pee Wee 3rd Place
2011 Pee Wee 1st Place
COSTS GOING TO NATIONALS
The cost for airfare and hotel runs around $650 per person (assuming 4 people to a room). Fundraising was the key to keeping these costs down for parents. Fundraising is throughout the season will help defray the out of pocket costs for travel to Disney. Additional information will be available regarding fundraising activities should we feel that a trip is a realistic possibility. You will need to plan on funding this trip for your child if you do not want to participate in additional fundraisers, at that point, please notify the fundraising coordinator if you wish to opt out of competition fundraising. We do not attempt to fundraise to cover incidentals or any part of a parent accompanying their child, but parents are strongly encouraged to go if at all possible. Financial hardships will be considered when appropriate. This fundraising is separate from our association fundraiser, which is mandatory for all Football and Cheer participants.
WHAT TO WEAR TO PRACTICE
No belly buttons or midriffs showing and nothing provocative should be worn. Your child’s coach may require that girls purchase specific practice gear.
All girls should wear comfortable clothing and bring a water bottle, as water breaks will be taken frequently. The girls will be doing jumps, lifts and stunts, therefore no jeans, jean shorts, nylon pants or nylon shorts may be worn. Also, in keeping with the proper safety issues, girls should not chew gum, no jewelry is to be worn, and hair should be tied back in a soft hair tie (no metal clips and barrettes). Absolutely no earrings are to be worn! Fingernails must be clipped WEEKLY to avoid scratching accidents. All girls are to wear CHEER sneakers and ankle socks (no knee socks at practice); sandals or bare feet will be prohibited. Insect repellant should be applied for outdoor evening practices, and sunscreen during Sunday games when the sun is out.
Some sportswear and practice items will be available at home games or on a website.
WEATHER
Games: We are expected to cheer at games even during inclement weather; this includes rain and occasionally snow (If the boys play, we are required to cheer). Games will only be called for thunder/lightening.
Practice: If it starts raining during outside practice (especially thunder and lightning) please make every effort to pick up your child promptly. Coaches/commissioners are required to stay with your child until they are picked-up, so promptness is appreciated. Occasionally we are forced to cancel practice at a moment’s notice-DO NOT LEAVE YOUR DAUGHTER AT A PRACTICE UNTIL YOU SEE HER COACH. Please check your email or texts for weather updates.
UNIFORMS:
Once practice starts in August, your child will be issued a Montgomery Wildcat Cheerleading skirt and vest, along with a bodyliner. These uniforms are the property of the league; they are used each year and are quite expensive. The replacement cost for the uniform is $225.
Uniforms should be hand washed properly after each game and to be worn to games and competitions ONLY. When washing your uniform, always pre-treat any stains (watch out for those hot chocolates girls...). The uniform should be washed in cool/warm water, and then line dried. NEVER PUT IN THE DRYER. Uniforms are never to be worn to school, unless approved by myself for special occasions and never as a Halloween costume.
ADDITIONAL UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS
We require that each girl purchase a pair of socks, a bow, brief (boy short), and cheer sneakers. More information about where to purchase these items will be sent out.
The proper regulation sneaker must also be purchased; the cost should be approximately $45.00. Sneakers are available at Village Shoes in Montgomery. Coaches will ask you to wear competition sneakers for indoor practices, please change into the sneakers once in the building. For games, the girls can wear any white Cheer sneaker.
CLINICS/CAMPS
There will be camps this year sometime in August for the cheerleaders to be involved in. More information will be available soon. There will be additional charges for camps.
The competitive squads will plan up to a weeklong fundamentals camp. Like any summer camp, there will be an additional cost (these are run through local cheer academy’s and payment is made to them directly). We will notify you of the details as soon as possible so that you can plan this into your summer day activities for your daughter.
VOLUNTEERS
As always, help is appreciated, and each family will be expected to volunteer 4 hours during the season to assist with running our home games (concession/gates etc). If you have multiple children, you may need to work more than one timeslot. Jobs and times are on a first come, first serve basis. If you do not select a job/time, you will be assigned one.
Thank you and again, and Welcome back to MYFCA.
Carolann Kubik montywildcats@comcast.net
Head-Cheer Commissioner
