Winning national championships may not just be a tradition for the WCMS dance team now. It could be the expectation after the group again dominated at the NDA Nationals in Orlando.
The WCMS dancers won the Game Day division for the second straight year last weekend while also placing second in both the Hip-Hop and Pom divisions. The group was able to earn the crown in style, starring on the national stage at the national championships and once again hearing their name called last – and loudest - when the final announcements were made.
“You could see it in their bodies and their faces that they were doing all they could to hold in their excitement until their names were officially called,” said coach Kristy Weeter about anticipating the championship announcement. “Once that happened, they exploded into cheers and tears. We all did. It is a feeling like no other.”
Game Day has been where the team has been the most dominant over the last two years, sweeping the category despite the team being fairly new to national competition. Coach Weeter believes the event is tailor-made for her team though, especially when it comes to bringing out their best strengths.
“Game Day is all about leading a crowd with loud voices, having precise sharp movements and bringing genuine entertainment to the crowd. This plays in our favor because these are our strongest attributes. The girls go into Game Day with the attitude that it is not a competition, but with the goal to have everyone in the audience, including the judges, cheering for our team,” said Weeter.
It didn’t hurt that the team had a wealth of experience returning from last year’s championship squad. Those girls were leaders throughout the year as the team learned its routines and built confidence through performances. When the lights were the brightest in Orlando, it was the whole team’s turn to get the coveted national championship jackets.
“We had several girls who won last year still on the team, and they expressed to the newer team members their desire to have the same experience again. They really were great at leading this team,” said Weeter. “Our expectations for this team when preparing for nationals is to have fun, work hard, be the absolute best they can be and - of course - defend their title. We never know what to expect when we get to nationals, so in order to reach those goals, we have to build confidence in the girls with every performance done, practice countless hours to perfect the routines, add changes needed that we know are not working and perform the best they can so they have no regrets once they leave the dance floor.
“There was definitely added pressure to come back and defend our title. We knew we had made a name for ourselves, and the judges were going to expect great things from us, so we needed to make sure they took notice that we still had what it takes to be a National Champion.”
The celebration lasted all weekend for the team, but it won’t be long before the squad starts reassembling and planning its next mission. Going after a 3-Peat will be the next goal in Orlando.
A full Q&A with Weeter is available
on www.southernstandard.com.
