When looking over teams of the sports at Steinbrenner, our color guard team is one that is more of a family than a team. Color guard is a sport created to interpret the music that the marching band is playing, and to synchronize work of flags, sabers and rifles through dance. In interviews with people from the team, they all said the same thing, “I love the people I have met through color guard, they are people that I know I will be friends with for a very long time.”
With a bond that they all share, the girls also have a connection in the way that allows them to work in sync with one another. In their recent competitions at MPA along with the band, they brought home straight superiors, the highest score possible. Color guard/winter guard may look like it is all fun and games, but it is so much more, and requires more from those preforming. Incoming freshmen that want to join either guard must audition the summer going into 9th grade, and if they make it, the training starts! Heavy conditioning is required, along with dance combinations in preparation for the first part of the year, which is marching season with the band.
After marching season, it switches to winter guard, which is mostly held indoors. Winter guard is focused on strict preparation for competitions. Practices sometimes take many hours and require a lot of effort from all who are involved. Two members of color guard, Allie Pishock and Sam Massut have been on color guard for most of their time here at Steinbrenner. Everything they said about color guard was so similar, and they didn’t even know it, showing the mutual feeling of enjoyment that each girl has towards the team.
“I didn’t know how much this sport would mean to me, and I’m so happy I joined and met all of the friends I have today because of it,” both said. Pishock, one of the captains, said that the most rewarding part of the sport to her would be, “Seeing everybody grow together through the years, and get better, because of each other.”
“It would have to be being acknowledged when I am successful from my teammates,” Masut said in said in regards to what her favorite part of guard was.
The team really does its best to present themselves as one whole unit, so when one person accomplishes something, it is everyone’s accomplishment. Their message to those who are thinking of joining is, “Please join! You will not regret it. It will be frustrating at first, but it is incredibly rewarding in the end.”
Mia Petruccelli// Staff Writer
