The Minerettes.  We know who they are.  We’ve seen them at the football and basketball games and watched them take second place at the state championship.  They perform exciting and entertaining dance routines and execute them with an extreme level of excellence.  But none of us really get to see what goes on behind the scenes to prepare for the dances.  To us, it almost seems like a five minute show that grabs our attention.  But this team is made up of friends and classmates just like us.  And they are one of the hardest working groups in the school.

An average A-day for the Minerettes begins at 5:40 in the morning.  It starts with sprints and warm-ups, followed by rehearsing their competition dance routines, and ending at 8:30 in the morning.  Tired yet? They still have to go to an entire day of school, getting the same assignments and same due dates as everyone else.  On a B-day, instead of rehearsing before school, their rehearsals start after school and go until six in the evening.  And on top of that, there are some Saturdays thrown in there as well.  It’s no wonder that their performances are quite spectacular.  Let’s not forget that their auditions began in March of last year, and they had various rehearsals throughout the summer.

All this hard work, is it worth it?  Seneca Evans, a senior and one of the dance captains of the team, thinks so.  “It’s worth it.  It teaches you things that you can’t learn in a class room.  Being apart of this team teaches you commitment, priorities, and how to work hard.”  And it shows.  These girls manage to keep up with school, doing all the same assignments and projects as we all do.  Some are even enrolled in AP classes.  When asking Seneca how she balances it all, she says “with great difficulty.”

So what does it mean to be a Minerette? For Seneca, she summed it up like this.  “It means that you are willing to work hard.  Not only does it build your dance skills, it also makes you a better person.  You are fighting for something because your team wants it, not you.  It’s about working for other people and not yourself.”

They have a total of five competitions throughout their competitive season, including region and state.  The state championship was held at Utah Valley University went on all day.  The girls took 2nd place overall.  They impressed the entire crowd with their military routine, which was executed flawlessly.  They kept the momentum up with their dance routine, and concluded the day with their epic, but creepy, kick routine.  For those of you who don’t know, the drill team has to prepare multiple dance routines, all different categories, for the competitions.  For state, there are three, but in the regular season, our team has done as many as five.

The next time, you watch the Minerettes perform, or when you see one in the halls of school, just take a minute and appreciate all the hard work that they have done.  To them, it’s more than just a pattern of body movements.  “It’s been the hardest and best two years of my life,” says Seneca, “it’s worth it.”