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HAMMONTON -- Clinch the pee-wee championship title the Buena Braves did not, but make a lasting impression they did Sunday at the Atlantic County Junior Football League Championship. "This is one of the biggest crowds we've seen at a championship game in the last 15 years," said Atlantic County Freeholder Jim Curcio, marveling at the sea of Buena blue, white and gold flooding the Hammonton High School stands. No doubt the game's significance -- it was the first junior league championship contest for the Buena Braves pee-wees -- fanned their fans' intensity. "We've got more (fans) than they do," taunted Buena Braves assistant cheerleading coach Tina Taylor, indicating the Red Sea of Ventnor Pirates fans seated across the field. Estimates ranged from 400 to 600 Buena Braves fans -- a gargantuan following for the pint-sized 8-, 9- and 10-year-old pee-wees. Despite their 12-0 loss to the Pirates, in the stands the Braves maintained the upper hand. On home field turf at Michael Debbi Park in Richland, "we always pack our sidelines," said Mariclare James, 41, the Braves' cheerleading coordinator. The crowd's energy facilitated the sashaying of skirts and the flourishing of pom-poms of the 19 tireless pee-wee cheerleaders. "It's exciting because just to hear them it gets up our spirits and makes us feel better," said cheerleader Katie Weightman, 9, of Richland. "We're not like an Atlantic City or a Hammonton," said Charles Corbitt, 35. "We don't get to here often, so we value it more." Yet the rarity of such an event may be only half the reason for the game's draw. What it boils down to is Buena's tight-knit community, he said. "It's the 'It takes a village to raise a kid' mentality," Corbitt said. "When (the pee-wees) win, everybody wins." The Falasca family brought about 30 relatives, said Lisa Falasca, 35, mother of 10-year-old quarterback, Danny. Falasca and fellow football mom Janette Arroyo, 30, supplied about 200 pom-poms and 125 gold, blue and white balloons that fans flapped furiously. John Przybycien, 41, roared ceaselessly "C'mon Buena! C'mon blue!" until he was very nearly hoarse. Football parents like the Przybyciens and Tulsa Brown thanked the coaches for getting the pee-wees the farthest they've ever been. "They're very good coaches; they take the time out and call when they're sick," said Brown, 25, of Newtonville. "They care," she said.
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