Santa Cruz Seahawks: National Champs, Story and Photos By Kieran Kelly

LOCAL SPORTS

Santa Cruz Seahawks: National Champs

Story and Photos By Kieran Kelly

This month, local leaders, parents, and community members gathered on the Santa Cruz County courthouse steps to celebrate the County’s first-ever national champion youth sports team.

In December 2021, the Santa Cruz Seahawks, a Pop Warner youth football team for ages 12 and under, steamrolled their opponents on their way to winning the 64th Pop Warner Super Bowl Championships at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

“When people think of Santa Cruz, they think of surfing and maybe soccer, but we have some great football players that come from this area, many of whom have come through our program, and I’m just glad we could put Santa Cruz on the map for football,” said head coach Jake Clark, who lives in Aptos.

Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend presented proclamations to the players and officially declared March 4, 2022, as “Santa Cruz Seahawks Day” in Santa Cruz County.

“You are always going to be national champions and you did it at an age that proves you have a lot more to accomplish. This community is always going to be proud of you,” said Supervisor Friend. The young champs beamed with pride at their collective achievement.

The Seahawks went undefeated this season to earn a ticket to the Pop Warner Super Bowl Championships.

In their first game against the Danbury Trojans from Connecticut, the Santa Cruz kids put together a convincing 31-6 victory. They quickly followed up by beating the Westlake Chaps of Texas 33-6. In the final game, the Seahawks prevailed 28-8 over the Port Charlotte Bandits out of Florida — a dominant victory.

The Seahawks have set a high standard of success for the club with an intimidating record of 38-1 over the past three seasons.

However, the road to Orlando was not easy.

In addition to winning all their games this season, the nonprofit club had to raise $62,000 to cover the team’s travel expenses. All of the coaches are unpaid volunteers who donate countless hours of their time to the team.

The Seahawks’ victory is even more impressive when you consider they also had to overcome injuries and the lack of a dedicated practice space.

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