The Winter Guard started their season in the late fall and plan to compete and do as well as they can leading up to the State championships with their show.

The girls practice every Wednesday at Richfield Elementary School for three hours to rehearse for their upcoming shows. Senior Sarah Guilda commented on what the usual practice looks like for them.

“We take the first 10 minutes to stretch because it is a very physical activity. After that, we do across the floors like Jazz Walks and Jazz Runs. After doing that, we will do a few Center of the Floor activities that help to warm our body up, and then usually around 7:30 we will pick up our flag, go through a quick warm up on those by doing basics, and then we work on our show,” Guilda said.

Jazz walks and runs are activities that take place where the participant will use their core to leap across the floor. Center of the Floor activities includes stretches, warming up, and doing basic dance moves.

During practice and on the floor, the team creates memories with one another. Senior Amanda Jarrell commented on what she does on and off the performance floor.

“My solo toss at the beginning of our show last year [was my favorite performance memory]. [My favorite thing at practice is] learning new work or running the show,” Jarrell said.

Every year there is a new theme. The music that is chosen is the overall mood for the performance. The song determines the costumes, theme, and moves. Sophomore Keely Ryan talks about this years theme.

“ [This year’s theme is] “Lovebug” by the Jonas Brothers,” Ryan said.

The leadership system is made up of upperclassmen, they stress this because students from the middle school are also allowed to partake in this activity. Guilda commented on how leadership is divided.

“We divided up the responsibility for this year, Brenna Ryan is the captain, I am a squad leader and basically Brenna’s right-hand man. Amanda Jarrell our social chair and is in charge of making sure we all get along,” Guilda said.  

The girls train for competitions that take place at different high schools throughout Ohio. This year they will have 6 competitions and preview show that will take place at Firestone High School. Their first real competition will be at the Olentangy Liberty Show on February 3rd. Members of the Winter Guard includes Sarah Guilda, Amanda Jarrell Brenna Ryan,  and Keely Ryan.