As the first half of the Tiger football game is coming to an end, Color guard is getting ready for their first performance of the season. The flags, the rifles, the choreography are back on; bigger and more beautiful than ever.
Color guard is a sport where the team can express their feelings through their choreography, their flag routine, and rifle spins. It’s a lot of technique, but that’s the whole point in making it beautiful. They feel confident in themselves when they go out and perform. Minerva Garcia has been in color guard for three years and loves going on the field and performing in front the crowd.
“I feel like I can be myself and portray my [aspirations] through dance, and facial expressions in every performance,” junior Minerva Garcia Hernandez said, “Color guard gives me a sense of peace of mind where I can exit reality into a place of happiness with the people I love.”
Garcia became Captain of Color guard this year, her junior year of high school. She has always wanted to be a captain and was thrilled to hear she made it.
“Becoming Captain gave me the privilege of expressing my leadership skills and helping out my team with any problems they face.”
Being a Captain means that the team can expect something good when helping the team become better. A team is never just about one person, it’s about every single person who works hard and do their best. Everyone has an important part to play being on the team.
“My expectations for my team are being able to gain confidence and find themselves through something they are passionate about.”
She wants to help them as much as she can with any problem they needs. Everything a member does comes with routine. The routine is pretty simple with the usual stretches and practices before going on the field. One thing that she will never stop doing no matter what is listening to her teammates to give them the motivation needed before performing.
“Before going on the field, I listen to my director motivating and reminding us that ‘we’re so beautiful, so talented, and so amazing’ His quote encourages me to put in my best effort and make him proud at every performance”
Being just a member of the color guard team is also important. Senior Peyton Robinson has been in color guard for 4 years. And she loves every second of it. She feels that she has improved so much from when she first started doing Color guard.
“The first time I was more shaky,” Robinson said. “There are a lot of people on this big field now since it’s my fourth year and it’s like second nature to me. It’s something so beautiful when you feel more confident about what you’re doing.”
This sport just helps take people out of their comfort zone. There are so many people have so much going on in their life, when they get on that field they feel free. They can be themselves in that environment.
“I have always been excited about [being on the field] because I’m normally a person who doesn’t like being the center of attention, but out there, I push myself out of my comfort zone so I feel out going,” Robinson said.
Commitment is everything. No matter what it is, you need to work hard to achieve it. Sometimes it’s someone that can make you better and make you want to succeed in what you love.
“When I had a senior teach me new tricks when I wanted to learn something new, she was open to teaching me more and more and pushed me past my limits.”
Motivation is so important in everything. Robinson thinks having commitment and repetition is the most important thing to succeed in not just Color guard but in life as well. Doing the same everyday and having a routine is great to have when you want to be successful in what you do.
Robinson talks about what she does to become better every day.
“I say repetition, you know, always stretch your hands and stuff like that. Even though it’s a little boring, it works. And if you toss enough and you do the right technique to catch it enough, you’ll get better and better, and soon you’ll be able to place higher tosses. So I say repetition.”
Robinson has always encouraged people to keep trying things they believe in. Having faith in yourself is key to being successful and confident in yourself. If you believe in yourself you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Even though there are so many ways to feel confident in yourself, Robinson believes that never giving up is the solution.
“This is the most obvious one, but don’t give up because things will seem hard,” Robinson said. “But if you just keep trying and tell yourself you can do it, you’ll be able to do it.”
Freshman Bailey Barlow is in her first year of Color guard and is excited to start learning new skills.
“I’m excited about [performing at ] football games and competitions and learning new flag features,” Barlow said. “I’m excited for competitions because I get to perform and also get food.”
It’s nerve wracking to start something big. Especially performing in front of so many people at a football game. But at the same time it’s exciting to see how much work you have put into something you love.
“I’m a little nervous but not really.” Barlow said, “Just because it’s my first time performing in front of people, but I’m mostly excited about it. It can exciting and fun, because all these people get to see what we’ve been working hard on.”
All of this excitement for performing has to start somewhere. In 7th grade she had the chance to see them perform and ever since then she has wanted to become a Color guard member.
Barlow wanted to be active in school but she didn’t know what to do. Until they came to her school, then she knew exactly what she wanted to do for the rest of high school.
“I really wanted to be in a sport, but I didn’t know a lot about dancing, but I really like it.” Barlow said, “It felt like something I could for the rest of high school.”
Not only did she want to be a member in the Color guard team but she also wants to become a Captain when she’s older. Barlow thinks it’s going to be a lot of work but she is determined to become one. She wants to be a great leader and learn leadership skills.
“Yes, because I like helping people and I think it’s a good thing for me to try and learn a new thing to make myself more confident,” Barlow said. “To become Captain is probably talking more and not being so shy.”
