The Coaster

By PAUL BOOTH
When Asbury Park’s Anthony Jackson pulled down a fourth quarter interception to seal the Blue Bishops’ 14-12 victory over Beacon House in the Pop Warner Division I Junior Midgets Eastern Region finals on Sat., it was not only a win he guaranteed, but a trip to Disney World as well.

Asbury Park, now the Eastern Division I Junior Midget champions, will be taking their show on the road to Disney World’s Wild World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL. to face off against seven other Division I champions from around the country as part of the 2008 Pop Warner Super Bowl.

The games will be played Dec. 6-13.

This marks the second time that this group of athletes will have earned a trip to Florida. Last year, at the Pee Wee level, this same group traveled to Florida and proudly returned home as Division II Pee Wee National Champions.

“We know that the kids are going to be bigger and faster than they were at the lower level,” said Junior Midget Pop Warner head coach Syron Davis, who also coached this group to the national championship as Pee Wees last year. “But because of our experience there last year, I think we’re more relaxed and know what we have to accomplish to get the job done.”

Davis said his team, coming off an upset win, seems more mentally prepared this year than ever before.

“Last year they were excited, but this year there is added excitement because they know they beat a good team to get here,” Davis said.

According to levae.com, a website that ranks youth sports teams, Asbury Park was ranked 11th in the nation at the Division I Junior Midget level, while Beacon House (Washington, D.C.) was ranked 1st.

“So to come out and surprise people with a win over Beacon, our kids are determined and have tremendous drive to go down to Florida and become Division I national champions,” Davis said.

To realize that dream though the team must raise money to finance their trip.

The cost of the trip is $25,000, just for flight and accommodations, said Asbury Park Assistant City Manager James Famularo. All the kids, coaches and chaperones must stay on the resort to be part of the event.

“That $25,000 doesn’t include food and travel expenses once they get there,” said Famularo, who indicated that this year’s trip would probably be $6,000 more expensive than last year’s, mainly due to more expensive flights and a longer stay.

Last year, Famularo said, the Pop Warner program raised just over $20,000 for the Pee Wee championship trip. He is hoping to be able to better that this year.

“We’re going to need it,” Famularo said. “Our hands are pretty much tied as to the cost. If we could get it down we would, but we can’t.”

Coach Davis says he is hoping people and organizations in town will come through as they have in the past.

“Because it is all happening so quickly, it’s difficult for us to put together any official fund-raisers, so hopefully people will be willing to donate personally,” he said.

Asbury Park Pop Warner Football League President Kyle Weedon said he is hoping local businesses will step up and donate more.

“There is very little corporate and business support in this town for youth sports,” Weedon said. “And I hope that changes, because if we had that type of support we might not have to be asking for donations.”

Weedon said he is proud of his organization, which he described as one of the top performing Pop Warner organizations in the Jersey Shore in the last seven years.

“This is the type of program that local businesses should want to support and sponsor,” Weedon said. “Look at the football program at the high school level, year after year they win Sportsmanship Awards. That’s a testament to the kids and the coaches, but it’s also a testament to the Pop Warner program where those kids learned to play the game the right way, and carry themselves properly, win or lose.”

Checks can be made out to Asbury Park Pop Warner and delivered or mailed to 1 Municipal Plaza, Asbury Park, NJ 07712 c/o Leesha Floyd or James Famularo. Asbury Park Pop Warner can also be directly contacted by calling President Kyle Weedon 732-759-5556 or Treasure Roxanna Mello 732-277-3655.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 2:14 pm and is filed under Asbury Park, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.