Brock Burns | Nathan Kuffrey | Julie Shellard | Amanda Shepperson

This past winter, I received the Blue Pride Award at the football breakup dinner. This award is given to the player who showed dedication, leadership and pride while wearing the Attleboro High School uniform. I was honored to receive this award and I feel as if the foundation that I received while playing football for the White Hawks helped me to earn it. Playing football for the White Hawks for nine years allowed me to experience first hand how to win and lose with pride. I learned how important discipline, teamwork, respect and education are. My experience allowed me to become the successful student-athlete that I am today.
The White Hawks organization prepared me mentally and physically for high school. The coaches always encouraged me to give one hundred percent and to never give up on or off the field. At times playing football for the White Hawks was frustrating. One season we were 0-8 and scored only six points! But that did not stop me from playing with pride. I couldn’t wait to return to practice each Monday night. I looked at that season as a success in other aspects. I realized that winning isn’t everything and that new experiences and lessons can come out of a losing situation. Whether winning or losing, I always enjoyed the White Hawks atmosphere.
I also learned the importance of being involved in the community. As a junior in high school, I volunteered at the B level. I also refereed the flag and junior C games. It felt good to give back to them a small piece of what they provided me with for nine years. As I prepare myself for the next level of football, I feel confident that the foundation I received as a White Hawks will continue to be used.
Written by: Brock Burns
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Moving to a new place is always a hard thing, but to move then try to start a new name for yourself playing sports is even harder. I moved to Attleboro in the fifth grade and I wanted to continue playing the two sports that I loved to play football and baseball. I chose the Bombardiers football team for my first year, I started but the team aspects and the lessons I learned were not what I wanted. That year of playing football was the worst year ever for me I did not want to play again. However during the next summer I met Coach Mike Burns and he told me about the South Attleboro Whitehawks, immediately my father and I were impressed. The first day of practice I was nervous I still remember today, going there I did not know what to expect. Right off the bat I was the starting fullback and back up quarterback, with this I felt important and was given a sense of responsibility.
Whitehawks football gave me my will to play back, something I thought no one could do. The coaches Mike Burns and Sean Howe both were supportive and preached the importance of not only performing on the field but in the classroom as well. To learn this from such a young age was beneficial for not only me but also all the players on my team. I learned not only from the coaches but the other players, they made me feel like I belonged and I made friends that I still have to this day.
Today I am a senior at Attleboro High School; I am in the National Honor Society and captain of the football and baseball teams. To these Honors I was given much of it I devote to my two years of participation in the South Attleboro Whitehawks football organization. Next year I plan on attending Assumption College and I will continue my football career.
Written by: Nathan Kuffrey
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South Attleboro White Hawks

Ten years ago, I began my cheerleading career with the South Attleboro White Hawks. The six years I spent with this wonderful organization were truly enjoyable and ones that I will cherish forever. This experience molded me into the person I am today. I have learned that trust, loyalty, responsibility, camaraderie, and team work are all characteristics that are important to the White Hawks family. I have carried these valuable lessons with me throughout my high school years as a student and a cheerleader and will surely fall back on them during my college experience.
These lessons have helped me have a very rewarding and successful high school career. I have maintained a High Honors status throughout my four years at Attleboro High and am a member of the national Honor Society. Balancing my heavy course load, volunteering for various organizations, and hold a job, was all on top of my rigorous practice schedule for cheerleading at Attleboro High School. This was all possible from lessons learned from SAWH about responsibly and possessing a sense of commitment.
One of the most memorable community service experiences I’ve had is volunteering with the White Hawks cheerleaders. I help coach for the past four years and I hope I was able top pass along all of the lessons I learned when I was a SAWH cheerleader to these young girls. During there four years as a volunteer, it was amazing to see that the dedication and commitment of the White Hawk family was stronger than ever.
I will be attending the University of Connecticut in the fall and majoring in Physical Therapy. Prior to that, I will be working on the UCA (Universal Cheerleaders Association) staff touring the Northeast coaching cheer camps to kids of all ages. I am so excited for my upcoming years and without being a South Attleboro White Hawk, I feel none of this would be possible.
Are you proud to be a White Hawk?! YES I AM!!
Written By: Julie Shellard
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I graduate this year with a heavy heart because I have been blessed with so many great experiences in the last ten years. I have earned great respect for those coaches and teachers that took the time to share their knowledge of the sport of both cheerleading and football with us youngsters willing to learn. I have been cheering for 12 years, and I believe that I got the best foundation I could have with the coaches at SAWH. The dedication and integrity of the program enabled me and my fellow cheerleaders to excel on our sport. Everyone there had parents just like mine, with the same morals and values. Education was stressed as a first priority, and everywhere you looked from August 1st until the last game there were volunteers working hard to make SAWH the best youth program around.
I realized that importance of volunteerism from my years at SAWH. Coaches, parents, and high school kids came back year after year to pitch in and lend a helping hand. My first coach was Meredith Sunday. I remember her showing up every practice in her hospital scrubs, coming directly from a full day of work. She must really have loved coaching to put in such a long day, and then try and mold our team of giggly eight year olds into the first place winning team we became.
I was fortunate to be chosen for varsity cheerleader my freshman year, I believe this is due to the hard work and dedication of my coaches on B & A team. Last summer I had the opportunity to travel with a dance team. I gained independence and the self confidence necessary to complete this job by myself from the guidance of the coaches of SAWH. Because of the skills I learned at the youth level, this summer I will be enjoying a job on staff for UCA. This will allow me to share my knowledge of cheerleading that I’ve learned from the dedicated staff at South Attleboro White Hawks. I thank them all for their tireless hard work and cannot wait to pay it forward for others when I graduate college.
Written By: Amanda Shepperson
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