Brandon Bears Celebrate Season, Pay Homage to League's 23 Years

For Corey Newsome, it’s a  journey he never will forget, his nine years with the Brandon Bears Youth Football and Cheerleading League. 

How he got there is a story that rings familiar with scores of parents and volunteers throughout the organization, founded in 1988.

For Newsome, and for the others, the gateway was through their kids.

“When my sons were younger we looked for a place to play football that was close to home, and this was the place, right down the street,” Newsome said of the organization's location in Greater Brandon, at Providence Park East, 5720 Providence Road.

Newsome said he figured he’d be "one of the parents, sitting on the sidelines," but soon he was asked to do a bit more, which is how the parent who became the equipment manager in turn became the league’s athletic director.

As director, Newsome selected the coaches and assistant coaches, set schedules and oversaw the league's business and strategic goals, but it was at the annual awards ceremony that he got to do the task he likes to do best — celebrate a season of growth with the kids.

(See also, Photos: Brandon Bears Football, Cheerleading Awards Banquet)

“It makes me feel like it was all worth it,” he said, at the Jan. 15 awards ceremony for the teams, squads, players and cheerleaders of the 2011 season, held at HCC at The Regent.

“We don’t get paid for what we do, I wouldn’t want to," Newsome said. "We do what we do to make sure the boys and girls have a place to come where they can learn the game of football, learn the art of cheerleading and have a fun place to grow.”

Hundreds of such boys and girls were in attendance at the awards banquet, in the building owned by Hillsborough Community College and the event space operated by the board for the Brandon Community Advantage Center.

James Plachta, 17, a senior at Brandon High School, listened from the sidelines in the grand ballroom. He started with the Brandon Bears at age 11 and served this past season as a trainer.

“It’s a family,” he said of the Brandon Bears league. “It’s hard work but you never get tired of it. It’s filled with tradition and honor, it’s my home and I will never leave this place. It will always be my home.”

The Brandon Bears league was founded in 1988.

"It's  nice to see that the organization still means this much to the kids, that they come back after the season is over for a couple hours on a Sunday to [celebrate] the past season," said Erin Carr, president of the league's board of directors.

“This celebration each year is amazing,” said Victoria Plachta, vice president of the league’s board of directors, who has been with the Brandon Bears for seven years. She, too, started with her sons six years ago.

The league, she added, “gives the kids a place to learn and grow and develop values and character.”

About 300 kids participated in the 2011 season, she said, roughly half in football and roughly half in cheerleading.

"I do it for the kids, I love the kids," said Sherece Smith, the league's cheer director. "We have 133 cheerleaders and I know them all by their first names. They all call me, 'Mom,' and it's a great experience."

Nikki Hand uses the word "love" to describe as well her passion for working with cheerleaders as the head coach of the league's junior varsity squad, for girls ages 11 to 13.

"I love all of it," she said. "I love the jumps, the stunts, the dancing and putting the routines together."

Cheerleading "is a sport," she added, "because these girls are athletes and they work very hard."

Cheerleader Dana Dittfield and her mother, Denise, the coach of the varsity cheerleaders squad, are both leaving the league after a 10-year tenure with the Bears.

"I don't regret a minute of it," Dana Dittfield said. "Some of the best times of my live have been with the Bears."

Denise Dittfield agreed, which makes leaving the Bears a "bittersweet" experience, she said.

"My daughter started cheering and they didn't have a coach," she recalled about her path to head varsity coach. "They asked me if I'd do it and I said I would and I've been coaching every since. I just love the girls. It's so nice to see them grow and progress throughout the years."

As for Newsome, his tenure as athletic director has come to a close, a day he bears with "mixed feelings."

"It's hard to leave, the kids mean the world to me," Newsome said. "But with the economy the way it is, I had a job opportunity in Orlando and I had to go where the work is. I have so many good friends here, so many friends who are like family. It saddens me that I have to go.

As for Brandon, he said, he will always remember the town fondly.

"It's a community here," he said. "Everybody knows everybody. People step up and help their neighbors and friends. I'm going to miss that. I'm going to miss the closeness of the community."

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Editor's Note: This article has been updated to correct the identification of the athletic director, who is Corey Newsome.