Sports

Youth Cheer Squads Capture First Place At Globals Cheer Championship

By Andy Hutchison

Published: Mar 21, 2026 7:00 am

The Newtown Youth Cheer program is celebrating a major milestone after two of its cheer teams competed at the Youth Cheer and Dance Alliance (YCADA) Globals Cheer Championship in Atlantic City, N.J., February 27-28. Both squads brought home first place titles in their respective divisions.

The YCADA Globals competition is one of the largest youth recreational cheerleading championships in the country. Each year, teams from across the United States travel to compete against top recreational programs in a variety of age groups and skill divisions. The event serves as a season-ending championship for youth cheer teams and highlights both athletic ability and teamwork.

Newtown’s grades seven and eight cheerleaders competed in the D13 Level 2 division, while the grades five and six team competed in the D11 Level 3 division. Both teams delivered outstanding performances, and for the first time in the program’s history, Newtown brought home championship titles.

“This year marked the fifth time Newtown Youth Cheer has participated in Globals, and the first time we have ever taken home a first-place title,” said Kristen Keil, vice president of Cheer for Newtown Youth Football and Cheer League. “Winning the Globals Championship is amazing, but what makes it even more special is that both Newtown teams were able to win together.

“Our cheerleaders worked incredibly hard all season long, starting back in August,” Keil added. “To see both teams perform so well on a national stage and bring home first place is something we are extremely proud of.”

Throughout the winter season, the teams participated in several local competitions to prepare for Globals. The championship event marked the final competition of the season for the D11 team.

The D13 team continued its strong season even after Globals, competing at the Northeast Challenge Cheer Competition in Massachusetts on March 14, where they earned an impressive second-place finish.

For Newtown Youth Cheer, these achievements reflect not only strong athletic performances but also the dedication, teamwork, and spirit of the young athletes who proudly represent the Newtown community.

With their first Globals championships now in the record books, the program looks forward to building on this success and continuing to grow youth cheerleading in Newtown. Registration opens April 1 for the 2026-2027 season. Practices will begin in mid July, with the first competitions scheduled for mid September. Any interested cheerleaders in grades two through eight are encouraged to check out the website for details about the upcoming registration: newtownyouthfootball.org/cheerprogram.

Members of the Globals champion D11 squad are pictured with event spotters (wearing black). Cheer team members and coaches are, from left, front: Lillie Dougherty, Brielle Keil, Cecily Auresto, Ariana Maklyan, Ellie Veneziano, Grace McCambly, Teagan Conant, Teagan Hufnagel, Brynn Clark, and Maggie Guman; and back: Coach Brook Clark, Demonstrator Shayna Clark, Coach Mya Krasowski, Sofia Reyes, Coach Tracy Veneziano, Jamison Ashby-Monroe, Eleanor Driscol, Sawyer Gottschalk, Emmy Bell, Aviana Leonardi, Evie Ramsdell, Natalie Patty, Victoria Maklyan, Camryn Potter, and Head Coach Amber Deamico. —photos courtesy Kristen Keil

The D13 global champions are pictured with event spotters (wearing black). Pictured are cheerleaders and coaches, from left, front: Madison Huray, Izzy Jeanfaivre, Sthephany DaCosta, Sophia Silva, Kyra Connelly, and Coach Stefanie Dasaro; and back: Ava Hennessey, Juliette Martins, Coach Krystle Vaccaro, Demonstrator Isabel Gietz, Coach Callie Jeanfaivre, Hailey Connell, Alexa Kitay, Grace Perez, Brynn McCambley, Avery Ehret, Madison Vaccaro, Aviana Nirenberg, Samantha Deming, and Head Coach Lea Guglielmo.

D13 flyers are, from left: Izzy Jeanfaivre, Ava Hennessey, and Madison Huray. They are supported by, left group: Grace Perez, Maddie Vaccaro, Samantha Deming, Kyra Connelly, and Izzy Jeanfaivre; middle group: Alexa Kitay, Sthephany Dacosta, Juliette Martins, Brynn McCambley, and Ava Hennessey; and right group: Hailey Connell, Aviana Nirenberg, Sophia Silva, Avery Ehret, and Maddie Huray.

D11 flyer Brynn Clark is supported by stunt group Evie Ramsdell, Jamison Ashby-Monroe, Emmy Bell, and Camryn Potter.

RTD Celebrates One Year With Symposium, Encourages Attendees To Continue Work

Hearts Of Hope Newtown Chapter Event To Benefit House Of Harrison

Spring Floral Design, Next Garden Club Of Newtown Meeting

Dining Guide: Hacienda Don Manuel Offers A Taste Of Mexico

Hi Yolanda, you clearly are a supporter of Michelle Ku. I see that our letters about the recent decision by the Democratic Town Committee regarding how they/we will choose a nominee have been published on the same day. Last week the DTC voted to have a Caucus (where all Newtown registered Dems in the 106 get to vote instead of a DTC meeting where only 55 dems get to vote) to help determine which Dem will run for the 106 seat against Mitch Bolinsky. Your letter indicates you prefer the DTC meeting (55 votes) while I prefer the Caucus where it is open to thousands of democrats in town. I prefer a Caucus vote for either Ku or Moore (by the way you’re limited to 300 words in a LTE so first names take up words so I don’t use them) for the reasons I stated in my letter above - more people get to vote, more people are engaged, more turnout in November. About the divisiveness, there are many comments on social media before and since this decision by DTC that claim there should be no such contest these have been made by Ku supporters on her pages and they have in fact written what I mentioned above. In politics “Surrogates” and “Camp”are commonly used shorthand for supporters of a particular candidate - I’ve never heard it used offensively so I never thought anyone would interpret using such terms as an attack. I have seen nothing from the other campaign neither posts from the Candidate or his supporters, “surrogates”, or camp that make such negative comments and that’s the truth. People can have their beliefs about the process - I believe primaries are good , you may not - but to try to say one candidate is “divisive” because they choose to run and provide us a choice and a chance to promote the party at the same time is not good for any of us - citizens should not just be allowed but should be encouraged to step up and run. I stand by what I said- for one candidate’s team to say that they are or their people are so mad that they’ll vote for the opposing party is divisive.

All Democrats Should Embrace The Democratic Process

All is going well! Thank you for advancing critical initiatives and making such quick progress where it matters for our community. We are honored to have you as our First Selectman!

How’s It Going?

Congratulations on raising a wonderful Harvard grad who has served his country well. My son is a Harvard Law School graduate and that was not an easy accomplishment, as you know. He was Cornell before that. My brother was a paratrooper and my uncles served in the military, as well. In segregated troops, but they were also so proud to serve. I am so grateful to your beautiful and brilliant child. I am grateful to anyone that takes on the difficult task of representing an entire community. It is not at all an easy task. In my 64 years, I have worked with some incredible community leaders and elected officials, on so many levels. I was an administrative law judge, a judge's court attorney, a managing partner, a hospital administrator etc. Community record of service and loyalty and experience is so important at all levels. I know that with more years of experience in the Newtown community your Brandon hopes to represent, he will have enough experience under his belt that he will be a great advocate for Newtown. I also know that at this time, Michelle Ku has that experience, record and knowledge and she will be an incredible State Representative and any truly committed additional nominee will work with Michelle Ku to help her do what all need done. They would work very well together and many of us hope that is what happens. Congratulations again, on a job well done.

Brandon’s Story, From His Mom’s Perspective

This shocks me and I may be naïve to what can be done but I had a similar issue before moving to Newtown and I put it on the agenda for a town meeting and the Department of Transportation had to address the matter. Is this not an issue that Transportation can look into. Diverting traffic or slowing it down is not a way to address the fact that your enjoyment of your home is affected? Perhaps even the safety of your immediate community? If I were to drive through and witness what you have described, I would definitely not be interested in purchasing a home on your street. How is this not an assessment issue that you raise and they must investigate? Where is the accountability toward tax paying home owners?

Traffic On Schoolhouse Hill Road

Thank you for your service Brandon Moore. Thank you for the events you have participated in during the months that you have lived in Newtown. However, I am too old and wise to not realize, there are so many unanswered questions about the newcomer. So many issues the Republican Party raised about Mr. Moore’s brief employment in government that I’ve inquired about, but people won’t discuss. The Republican Party statement that Michelle Ku deserves better. It leads me to support Michelle Ku, without reservation. However, if there can be transparency about the allegations against Brandon Moore, I might consider him a worthy democratic candidate. On another note… why did I receive an email from you with the wrong DTC meeting dates? I missed the meetings I could have attended. Hmmmm. Ah, but me not overthink. Hope to be at the next exciting DTC meeting.

Thank You For Stepping Up, Brandon

<< Mar 2026 >>
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31	1	2	3	4

Log In

Youth Cheer Squads Capture First Place At Globals Cheer Championship

Leave a Reply Cancel reply