While most folks are sitting around putting away leftovers and watching football all weekend, the Suffolk Steelers will be busy competing and playing football on Friday and Saturday.

The Steeler dance team will perform in the Mid-South Regional Championship Friday in Charlotte, N.C.

The Steeler cheerleaders won the Southeastern Virginia Pop Warner Conference championship to qualify for regionals and nationals, which will be in Orlando the week of Dec. 5.

“We’ve been changing our routine since the local competition, to make it more difficult for the next levels,” said Trina Arrington, head coach for the dance team.

The Steeler dance team is Kanisha Colbert, Alexis Arrington, Kawnejah Johnson, Alexis Norman, Kaleesha Baker, Jada Jones, Kashala Jones and Donisha Bailey.

“The big thing for us is education,” Arrington said. All Steeler, or Inner City Athletic Association, cheerleaders and football players must get good grades and stay in good standing in school to remain on the stage or field.

“We make sure we’re giving them the time they need for school work. That comes first,” Arrington said.

The Steeler midget (ages 13-15) football team won its conference title for the fourth straight season, but went out in the first round of the regional playoffs last Saturday in North Carolina.

The Steelers (7-2) ran into the defending Pop Warner national champions in the Division I semifinals. The Greensboro Giants beat the Steelers 23-0.

“They were 14-0 last year and they’re undefeated this year. They are a very, very good team,” said Steeler head coach Kevin Shepherd.

During the regular season, the Steelers were averaging 32 points per game.

That’s far from the end of the Suffolk Steeler football season, though. Three Steeler pee wee, junior midget and midget teams are back on the road this weekend for bowl games.

The junior midget Steelers are playing in the third Annual Turkey Bowl in Clover, S.C. Saturday afternoon. The Steelers will face the Derita Redskins (N.C.).

The Steelers are still seeking donations for travel, hotel and food expenses for the football and dance teams. Anyone interested in making a donation can call the association’s president, Fred Greene, at 237-1494 or Shepherd at 419-0186.