As a new season is approaching, many students are preparing for different winter sports. There are many opportunities for students to physically get involved like basketball and wrestling, but one sport that is commonly overlooked is winter guard. This sport allows students to train different tosses while encouraging them to artistically express themselves.
“We have a different theme every year — different from color guard, too — and the coaches look to see if we’re able to portray characters and tell a story,” team captain Emma Burchett (12) said.
This year, the winter guard’s theme will be inspired by the painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch but will take place in the ocean. The performers will play fish who have realized what mess they left the ocean as they were partying. Many of the winter guard themes have a lot of meaning to them while also being entertaining for an audience.
“I’ve been in color and winter guard since my freshman year. My favorite theme was when we did The Waitress during the fall. It was really fun to do something unique that I’ve never done before” Cami McLeod (12) said.
Very similar to color guard, winter guard differs by taking place inside of a gym compared to a football field. Color guard usually correlates with the band, but winter guard is able to solely focus on their own performances and practices. Both can be challenging for students because the music is vulnerable to being changed during a performance.
“You have to be more prepared for winter guard because we use a music track, so something could happen to the music and throw us off,” McLeod said.
Working with a shorter season compared to color guard, these athletes prepare for performances and competitions. They have daily rehearsals where they practice different dances and equipment blocks.
“This year we start with dance, stretches and learn choreography, then we switch to flag to learn choreography and technique with that. We also have some people on rifles and they learn different techniques for that,” McLeod said.
Many students are introduced to the beauty and complexity of color guard during football season, but many don’t know there is another version of the sport that takes place during the winter time. Additionally, winter guard can be a very entertaining and meaningful experience for the performers and the audiences.
“I love winter guard because it’s so fun to do a sport while also doing something artistic,” Brenna Kolaski (9) said. “…It’s a really fun and creative environment.”
