IRVINGTON/LINCROFT, NJ — Veleria Brown-Garner, who has served as the head cheerleading coach at Irvington High School for 40 years, was honored at the New Jersey Cheerleading and Dance State Championships on Sunday, Feb. 23, at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft.
Brown-Garner received the prestigious New Jersey Cheer and Dance Coaches Association Coach Legacy Award. She was one of three coaches honored for their amazing legacy of coaching cheerleading, which has positively impacted their team, school and community.
Kim Gaskin, the head cheerleading coach at Burlington Township High School, is the director of the NJCDCA. John Taylor, who was the IHS athletic director from September 2017 to January 2024, is the current athletic director at Burlington Township HS.
Last summer, the IHS cheerleading team took part in a clinic at Burlington Township HS to prepare for their routines for the school year, as they received guidance from the five-time national champion Burlington Township cheerleading team.
In a phone interview with the Irvington Herald, Brown-Garner said she was pleasantly “shocked” to receive the award. “I was very amazed,” said Brown-Garner, who also thanked Taylor. “I’m still in a state of awe.”
Brown-Garner was inducted into the IHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.
Photos and video courtesy of John Taylor
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