For the first time in history, Hoover High School has launched a dance team, creating an exciting new chapter for both the dancers and those who get to watch them perform. The 18 team members perform at home football games and compete against other schools. This new group, made up of all four grade levels, is set to bring a fresh spirit to Hoover. As their journey begins, the dancers are eager to showcase their skills and build an everlasting program that will continue to flourish.
Dance team member and junior Addison Jenkins shares her favorite part of being on the team so far.
“Connecting with the girls — we all dance at different studios, so we have never danced together on a team. It is fun getting to dance with them on the same team,” she said.
With there being many different competitive dance studios in the North Canton area, having the opportunity for all Hoover dancers to come together and make one unifi ed team is something that is very special for them.
“The most rewarding part has been creating this team,” Jenkins said. “Many of us dancers on the team have been trying to get this team for a while, so finally getting approved has been a top moment.”
This long-awaited program finally coming to life was a huge success for these dancers, and they cannot wait to see what comes of it as time goes on. Another member of the team, junior Emma Chung, also shares what the establishment of the Hoover Dance Team means to her.
“It’s very rewarding seeing the progress of the team,” she said. “It’s crazy to think that there wasn’t a dance team a year ago, but now we’re having so much success with it. I’m so proud of the dance team, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what we do in the future!”
The lady behind all of these new wonderful things is their faculty advisor, Ms. Missy Stertzbach, devoted countless time and work to not only get the program started, but to keep it growing.
“I would say that the vision for the future is that it becomes a part of the [school] spirit entertainment elements here at Hoover and is integrated as something that we have that allows artistically-trained dancers to showcase that,” she said.
Now that the dance team has established a good foundation, they are all now looking into the future. All members of the team have goals for how the team can continue to progress.
“We hope that they become a very integrated part of the community, and that people are excited to see them perform, to see how they grow as dancers, and that they really see them as an entertaining element,” Stertzbach said.
With any new program, it is important that someone steps up to lead people to success. Dance team captain and senior Reese Stertzbach shares what it means to her to be named captain for the inaugural season, and the goals she has with her position.
“It means a lot to me. I helped form this team, so I love that I get to have an even longer impact on the program by being a leader during the inaugural year,” Reese Stertzbach said. “As a team, our main goal is to further establish the dance team, and make the program more known to the district. Personally, my main goal is to successfully lead our competition teams to states this winter. I strive for our performances to seem as though we have been doing this for years, even if it is our first year.”
Chung shares a newfound team tradition that gets the girls ready for game days.
“Something that we do to support each other at games is we gather in a circle and put our poms in the middle of the circle while chanting ‘H….D….T…HDT!’ It’s a fun way to loosen up at games and to remember to have fun.”
