Coaches and players with the Tucson Jaguars 13U team took part in a podcast interview with AllSportsTucson.com at Wings Over Broadway at Camino Seco on Wednesday night to discuss its trip to Kissimmee, Fla., on Friday to compete in the AYF National Championships that begin on Monday.
The event will take place through next Friday at Austin-Tindall Park in Kissimmee.
The Tucson Youth Football & Spirit Federation 14U All-Stars and the organization’s AYF Cheer All-Stars will also travel to Kissimmee.
CLICK HERE FOR THE GO FUND ME LINK TO HELP THE TUCSON JAGUARS 13U TEAM WITH EXPENSES
The Cheer Nationals are from Dec. 8-12 Members of the cheer squad include Jaeden Taylor, Ariana Benitez, Brooklyn Carpenter, Alexah Greene, Abigail Caldwell, Mia Lopez, Selma Insanic and Lynn Antone. The head coach is Danielle Benitez. Her support staff is assistant Emily Nutbrown, business manager Marina Amans and student demo is Gaeltan Benitez.
The Jaguars, who won the TYFSF city championship, earned a trip to the national tournament by capturing the Desert Mountain Regional Championship, defeating the Las Vegas Apex Predators 15-6 in El Paso on Nov. 21.
The team includes Kayden Steptoe, son of former Arizona and NFL player Syndric Steptoe and Jake Rogers, son of Salpointe head coach Eric Rogers.
THEN
NOW
Jaguars roster:
Daniel Amaya Jr.
Matthew Avelar
Noah Banhie
Van Birchak
Jimmel Champion
Christian Coronado
Dennis Davis
Wheeler DeLancey
Christian Diaz
Gabriel Diaz
Caleb Dooley
Ruben Erunez III
Davian Gonzalez
Daniel Gradillas-Flores
Tharran Koran
Joshua Lamb Jr.
Jake Li
Damian Mutchler
Nasim Pedrego
Parker Pierce
Jake Rogers
Benicio Ruiz
Julien Sanchez
Kayden Steptoe
Fetuolelagi Taiafi
Bryce Thomas
Coaching staff:
Head coach: Jason Hawkins
Defensive coordinator: Steve Dooley
Offensive coordinator: Derrick Gory
Defensive backs: Robbie Delaney
Defensive line: Gerald Morgan
Wide receivers: Julio Diaz
Offensive line: Victor Gonzalez
Business manager: Rebeca Hawkins
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District
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