It’s senior night at Wilsonville High School during the white-out football game. The dance team has taken their places and is waiting for the hip-hop music to start.
The dance team has been on quite a rollercoaster for the past four years. There have been many different coaches, and the present-day dance team is quite different from what the dance team was four years ago.
Senior Sasha Nagy has been on the dance team for all of her four years of high school. The differences could not be more distinct. “My freshman year dance season was only two months, we had to wear masks, and we had to stay six feet apart,” she informs.
Now the dance season is year-round, and the team competes in many competitions.
Both Sasha and the other senior on the team, Soobin Park, have said that the biggest difference has been the major change in the size of the team. In the past couple of years, the team has been pretty small, whereas this year, the team is much bigger.
“I love performing at half times and assemblies. And I also love our team bonding when we are getting ready for football games together,” Park says.
The biggest obstacle when it comes to any sport is the injury factor. Dance team coach Cassie Markstaller says, “When we have people who want to dance or when I want to dance, but there’s an injury, we have to take safety and taking care of our body first,”
It can be hard to juggle work, school, and athletic life as a high school student. However, most athletes would agree that playing a high school sport is a fulfilling life experience. Ultimately, the most important part about sports is the camaraderie of a team and having fun.
The team has an exciting year ahead of them for the upcoming dance season. For both Park and Nagy’s last year on the dance team, they are hoping to do well in competitions and work hard, but most importantly, have fun and build a dance family.
Dance team is a great opportunity for many just like other sports. Although fall sport is coming to an end, the dance team continues years round with their next performance being next Friday October 27 at the first playoff football game.