By Linda Delmonico-Prussen
With precisely choreographed, highly athletic routines, the 17-member squad recently captured the Nassau County cheerleading crown at Valley Stream North High School -- for the seventh straight year.
Varsity cheerleading coach Phyllis Fogarazzo, who works in Kennedy's main office, took the team under her wing 14 years ago. A former cheerleader, Fogarazzo volunteered to instruct the squad when the team lost its coach and no teachers offered to assume the responsibility.
During Fogarazzo's first year as coach, the team didn't take part in the Nassau cheerleading competition. In year two they competed and placed a respectable seventh. The third year, they leaped into the top three and continued to rank among the county's elite three until seven years ago. From then on only first place would do.
"Once you succeed," Fogarazzo said, "you feel the pressure on you to continually succeed."
The girls work hard to achieve top rankings at cheerleading competitions, practicing three times a week from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. and once a week from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Fogarazzo will schedule additional practices if needed. "If we need more, we have more," she said.
The girls, though, don't look at practice as work. "I love it," said junior Lisa Cohen. "It's, like, my life." First year cheerleader Mallory Cogen, a sophomore and the youngest member of the squad, said, "It's amazing, it's so much fun."
Janet Goller, former president and current member of the Bellmore-Merrick Central School Board, was a cheerleader at Mepham High School. She said that cheerleaders learn important lessons for life. "They learn to care, to work together and to not be selfish," she said. Goller added that cheerleading is "definitely" a sport.
The cheerleading season differs from that of other sports. The squad begins cheering with football in the fall and continues through March with basketball. But, Fogarazzo noted, "We practice through June."
The girls work out during the summer as well. Last August they attended a National Cheerleading Association camp at Hofstra, where they and their coach got tips on tumbling, dance, choreography, and the lifts and tosses for which cheerleaders are famous.
The girls' favorite event of the year is the Kennedy High School Homecoming. Junior Amanda Borenstein said, "I think it's one of the best experiences ever." Team co-captain Haley Yarosh, a senior, said, "We each prepare foods to put in goody bags for football players." The next step, the girls explained, is to drive in a rented limousine to each football player's house and cover it with toilet paper.
When asked if the boys appreciate the gesture, coach Fogarazzo said, "They expect it."
In return, Yarosh said, the football players leave gifts for the cheerleaders at their homes. Junior Lauren Rieders said, "We like getting roses."
Lifts, such as "liberties" into arabesques and "twist-downs," as well as "basket tosses," require strength, timing, skill and hours of practice -- in addition to loads of trust. Airborne cheerleaders need to know their teammates are ready and able to catch them. A spill can mean a serious injury.
Fogarazzo stressed that to win major cheerleading competitions, a squad must display extraordinary teamwork. The Kennedy girls hope their own teamwork holds up in their next contest, the Long Island Cheerleading Coaches Association Competition at Kellenberg High School in Uniondale on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Kennedy cheerleaders, however, aren't consumed by their sport. They are also excellent students. Fourteen are on the honor roll. "Academics always comes first in my squad," Fogarazzo said, adding, "They are able to maintain both."
Senior co-captain Allyson Shuster said of academics, "You kind of have to balance it out. You have to set your priorities."
Senior co-captain Brooke Hammel plans to continue combining cheerleading with academics in college. She hopes to attend the Ivy League's University of Pennsylvania.
Seven straight Nassau County titles for the Kennedy cheerleaders, a squad full of honor-roll students. Now that's worth cheering for.
The Kennedy High School cheerleaders
Name Grade
Amanda Borenstein 11
Laura Bornstein 11
Brooke Chaikin 11
Mallory Cogen 10
Lisa Cohen 11
Jamie Diamond 11
Britt Ellis 11
Kali Feinman 12
Melissa Fundora 11
Shoshana Gaon 11
Brooke Hammel 12
(Captain)
Lindsay Kirshner 11
Erica La Magna 11
Elyse Levenson 11
Lauren Rieders 11
Allyson Shuster 12
(Captain)
Haley Yarosh 12
