The winter guard will have their first competition on Saturday, January 24 at 10:26 am at Thomas Coliseum.

The team has been working hard to prepare themselves for their performance.

“This competition is what I think is going to light the fire in our guard,” senior team captain Reid Sullivan said. “I think our guard is prepared very well for this season.”

Members are looking forward to their performance and getting the team ready for the season.

“The first competition shakes out all the nerves,” sophomore Jenna Martin said, “and it gets the new girls acclimated to what it will be like this season.”

The competition, unlike marching band, showcases only the guard and places them in a different atmosphere.

“The judges are closer, the audience is louder, and the work is more intense than marching season,” Sullivan said. “It will give them an opportunity to truly perform and show the guard community what they have, both as an individual, and as a team.”

The theme this season is Pan Am, where each member is a flight attendant.

“I’m looking forward to getting into the ‘flight attendant’ character,” Martin said, “but I’m nervous because we have a lot of new members.”

This will be the first winter guard competition for four members on the team.

“It was definitely difficult to start out and learn all these new things,” sophomore Emma Webb said. “It’s a lot of hard work, but I love it so much now, and it’s only been a couple of months.”

Veterans have noticed the new members putting in a lot of effort in preparation for the season.

“I’ve seen someone from the guard practicing at least three out of the five days we spend at school,” Sullivan said. “They’re really taking the initiative to work on their part.”

The team has come up with an innovative way to help give the new members a tool to improve.

“We have a Youtube channel where we post things for them to go over during the week,” Martin said. “I think it really has helped them practice.”

Along with practice, the team articulates the importance of building team chemistry.

“The team is like a family,” sophomore Madison Hutchinson said. “We have a big sister/little sister program, and we love encouraging and helping our littles.”

The athletes emphasized their optimism for the winter guard’s first competition.

“No matter what,” Hutchinson said, “I hope we can say we left it all on the floor and performed our hearts out, because at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”