MCHS’s Winterguard program is setting up for another season this year. As a senior on the team, I’d love to be able to encourage everyone and anyone to join. It’s super fun and a great way to make new friends and get out of your shell. In case you're unfamiliar with Winterguard, we learn to dance and spin flags, rifles, and sabers together to create a 4-5 minute show that we perform at competitions for awards and placements against other schools. If you’ve seen the halftime performance at football games, it’s the same concept minus the band and field.
We just had three interest meetings, but it’s not too late to join! We have one more on December 7th from 5pm-8pm. After that we have two camp days on December 17th from 4pm-9pm and December 18th from 10am-8pm. These camp days are when we begin learning basics and discussing what the show will look like. It may seem crazy to practice that much, but it’s great exercise with consistent breaks. Lunch and dinner are provided, as well as a 15-minute snack break. Water and Gatorade are also provided, and you can always take a break to go grab a sip. It’s honestly a lot of work, but you have people doing the same thing as you and supporting you, which makes it go by fast.
After we return from winter break the season really kicks off with regular practices every Tuesday and Thursday from 5pm-8pm. These practices last until March 24th and span about 12 weeks. The last Saturday in January is our first competition. On these competition days we first show up to school around 11am-1pm depending on when call time is. From there we practice for about two hours and do a few runs of the show.
After that we all start getting ready, which in my opinion is the best part. We take about an hour and do our hair and makeup together. It’s really a lot of fun. Don't worry if you’re not the best with makeup; there'll always be someone on the team who can help. After hair and makeup is done, we all board up in different chaperones’ cars and head to the school where we’re competing. Usually we have a lot of down time where you can just hang out with everyone and get some concession snacks before it’s time to change into our costumes. After we change we make sure all of our equipment is good and head out onto the floor and perform. Competitions are really fun and make for great memories.
You may be thinking this is a big time commitment. However, it’s really only two or three days a week and six competitions this year. I promise that at the end of season you’ll look back at all the fun you had, plus all of the friends and memories you made, and realize it was all worth it. A lot of people who do it end up loving it and returning for either marching season or the next winter season.
So please come give us a chance and sign up before it’s too late. We’d love to spin with you!