Three Cheers for St. Bart's Buffalos

They started in the hot, muggy days of summer, tumbling across the turf fields at Heavenly Farms, lifting one another, and doing handsprings and aerials, pyramids and basket tosses, and they’ll continue doing it until at least November, when the St. Bartholomew’s Football and Cheerleading season ends.

“It’s just been so exciting over the last year, because we’ve had so much more competitions,” said Cheer Coordinator Jodi Gerhartz. “

The St. Bart’s Buffalos cheerleading and football teams have been around for more than 40 years and are open to youngsters between the ages of 5 and 15. With rosters made up of kids from East Brunswick, Milltown, Spotswood and North Brunswick, there is no shortage of enthusiasm, friends and fun.

And just like their football counterparts, the cheerleaders are like a family, with mothers and daughters working together toward success. Gerhartz’ son played football with the league and her three daughters all cheer, having started when they were young and cheering at the “flag” level.

St. Bart’s is broken into several age brackets, flag for the youngsters, the Mighty Mites, Junior Pee Wees, Pee Wees and the Midgets. Once those “Midgets” move on to high school, many come back to share what they’ve learned with a new generation.

“We have a lot of EBHS students who come back to demonstrate and show the girls routines,” said Gerhartz.

While the girls work hard cheering for the football teams, being on a St. Bart’s cheer team means so much more than that. It also means competitions, something the club has excelled at over the years.

“St. Bart’s always has been competitive,” said Gerhartz. "Since I’ve been here, they always place Top 5.”

For more information on the St. Bart's Buffalos, visit www.stbartsbuffalos.com.