Toss, Spin, Dance, and more. The PLHS color guard began their 2023 season with the marching band and continues to build connections with each other as well as work to improve with every practice and competition.
Senior guard members Emily Chinowth and Katie Adair are participating in their third year on the color guard team, and anticipate a fun rest of the competition season. Guard practices have allowed the entire team to connect with one another, and their friendships continue to grow with every practice.
“We are all just super close friends and I love having the small group of us,” Adair said.
Every season, the guard has used props to enhance the visual appeal of the marching band’s show. This year, their performances involve rifles and two types of flags.
“We use baby flags, which are just our flag poles but smaller and thinner. We use normal flag poles that are 5-6ft tall,” Adair said. “We also use rifles, and we have used sabers before but we aren’t this year.”
Creating close friendships with teammates is something that the PLHS color guard has yet to fail at. The team values making their practices a fun experience for every member in order to perform their best when it comes time to compete.
“We get distracted pretty easily, but they’re really fun,” Adair said. “We go through and just rep the choreo a bunch to clean it up, and at the end of practice we do 20 minutes of bonding together.”
The team’s kindness and morale don’t just exist at practice, they also extend to those they meet at competitions. Despite competing against each other, the team gets to enjoy hanging out with not only each other but friends on other teams after weeks of practicing.
“I really enjoy the competitions, and being able to see the other bands and hang out with your guard,” Chinowth said.
At the end of the day, the main focus for the PLHS color guard isn’t only competitions, but it is also making sure they all can work together as one. The morale built this season fuels the girls to perform their best, and continue connecting with each other.
