By Rob Potter
ROSCOE —For the past few weeks, the players, cheerleaders and coaches in the Rockland Devilcats Youth Football program have been preparing for the upcoming season.
They have been practicing at the Roscoe Central School football field several evenings a week. Once the teams play their first games next Friday night in Roscoe, they will practice at the Livingston Manor Central School football field.
Once again this season, Rockland Devilcats Youth Football will have a Junior/Pee Wee Division team and a Senior Division team. The Junior/Pee Wee team includes players ages 7 to 9 and a few 10-year-olds. The Senior team is for players ages 10 to 12. However, the 12-year-old players must be in the sixth grade and not seventh grade.
“When our players are in seventh grade, we want them to go and play for the Livingston Manor/Roscoe modified football team,” Rockland Devilcats Youth Football Coordinator/Coach Bill Hendrickson said. “This year we have 16 boys who would have played in the Senior Division who are on the modified team.”
The Cheerleading team is for girls ages 7 to 12.
Hendrickson noted that the numbers are down slightly this year. The Junior/Pee Wee team has 21 players, which is four less than in 2010. The Senior team has 20 players, which is five fewer than last season.
However, the Cheerleading team has 23 girls, which is a slight increase from last year.
While many of the cheerleaders are 7- and 8-year-olds, there are also two 10-year-old girls and two 11-year-olds on the squad.
“The older girls are teaching the younger girls how to cheer,” said Bonnie Hoag, who is one of the Cheerleading Coaches.
Now in its sixth season, Rockland Youth Football is still going strong.
“Everything is going very well,” Hendrickson said. “The Senior team, Junior/Pee Wee team and cheerleaders are working hard and improving.
“And we have great support from the community,” he added. “Parents are here every night supporting their kids and they come out and show their support at the games.”
The Rockland Devilcats Youth Football teams will once again play in the Sullivan County Youth Football League. But Hendrickson noted that things will be different this season without Jason Semo, one of the coaches of the Liberty Warriors teams who recently moved out of Sullivan County.
“There’s no question that everyone in the league is going to miss Jason Semo,” Hendrickson said. “He was one of the pioneers of the league. He and Coach Fred Ahart here in Roscoe helped get these youth football programs started.”
Hendrickson noted that a little better than half of the Rockland Devilcats Youth Football players and cheerleaders are from Livingston Manor. The majority of the others are from Roscoe, but there are a few players and cheerleaders from Downsville in neighboring Delaware County. Currently, there are three cheerleaders from Downsville, two Downsville players on the Junior/Pee Wee team and two Downsville players on the Seniors team.
“Amy Hill, who is one of our Senior Division Coaches, works as a physical education teacher in the Downsville school and she is always talking about our program and encouraging Downsville kids to join us,” Hendrickson explained.
Hill is one of the program’s many dedicated coaches.
“All of our coaches work very hard,” Hendrickson said. “They want all of our players and cheerleaders to do their best. I take my hat off to our coaches.”
The 2011 Sullivan County Youth Football League Schedule is as follows:
Sept. 9 – Liberty at Rockland Devilcats (night game)
Sept. 10 – Monticello SCORS at Tri-Valley
Sept. 17 – Tri-Valley at Liberty, Rockland Devilcats at Monticello SCORS
Sept. 23 – Monticello SCORS at Liberty (night game)
Sept. 24 – Rockland Devilcats at Tri-Valley
Oct. 1 – Rockland Devilcats at Liberty, Tri-Valley at Monticello
Oct. 8 – Tri-Valley at Rockland Devilcats, Liberty at Monticello SCORS
Oct. 15 – Monticello at Rockland Devilcats, Liberty at Tri-Valley
Oct. 21 – Rockland Devilcats at Tri-Valley (night game)
Oct. 22 – Monticello SCORS at Liberty.
The 2011 Rockland Devilcats Youth Football officials include: Bill Hendrickson – Coordinator/Coach, Will Mustavs – Assistant Coordinator/Coach, Debbie Hendrickson – Secretary/Treasurer, Maryanne Clancy – Fundraising Chairperson, Chelsea Carlson – Cheerleading Coordinator/Coach, Stacey Evans – Picture Coordinator and Chase Molinari – Manager.
The Coaches for the Senior Division team are Mike Hill, Amy Hill, John Evans and Jason Gorr. The Senior Division team members are Dan Clancy, Eric Hill, Nikolas Breihof, Parker Rosencranse, David Pautard, Jake Gorr, Josh Evans, Ty Engle, Desmond Lambe, Connor Gartland, Erik Dusseldorp, Haile Helper, Dylan Hefele, Colin Wilson, David Staudt, Zachary Gannett, Maizy Mangus, Manny Miranda and Martin Decker.
The Coaches for the Junior/Pee Wee Division team are Will Mustavs, Tim Manell, Craig France, Perry DeWitt and Andy Bury. The Junior/Pee Wee Division team members are Patrick DiBartolo, Collin Garofolo, Peter Pagan, Brendan Ryder, Kody Mazzuca, Dylon Irwin, David Diaz, Connor Manell, Connor Gorr, Zach Freitas, Lakota DeWitt, Noah France, Donovan Brock, Kyle Summersom, Dalton Powell, Kaiden Hinckley, Eric Tomah, Justin Zayas, Cody Froelich, Daniel Snarski, Edgar Rosado and Anthony Vagnone.
The Coaches for the Cheerleading team are Chelsea Carlson, Bonnie Hoag and Kimberly Niemann. The Cheerleading team members are Halle Banker, Emma Jones, Brianna Bear, Julie Edwards, Jadyn Colao, Kyra Breihof, Emily Tomah, Tayl’r Porter, Kelly Bertholf, Cheyanne Ryder, Haley Peck, Kassie Will, Sondra Garnboa, Cortney Klingardner, Zena Vandermark, Ashley Nieves, Kara Shutte, Julia Trotti, Kristina Davis, Nicole Davis, Rebecca Stickles, Sydney Newman, Victoria Kuttner and Grace Heintz.