While most Blue Valley Southwest students are hitting the snooze button for the seventh time, there is a group of dedicated and talented girls who are gearing up for a hard practice, flags in hand. These girls shouldn’t be judged simply by their cute name.
The hard-working Glitter Girls dance team spends countless hours practicing dance, along with flag and rifle tosses and drill for the marching band show.
But talent in dance and drill is not the only thing these girls have in common. They are united by true bonds of friendship that have been growing since their first practices over the summer.
“When you spend this much time with a group of girls, friendship just happens,” Glitter Girls captain Paige Nuffer said. “They understand what you’re going through more than anyone else.”
The friendship between this six person drill team is very evident to everyone, and it has rubbed off on their coaches as well.
“I love this group of girls; they are very talented and so fun to work with,” coach Erin Fine said. “They treat each other with respect in and outside of practices.”
Spend a day, hour, or even a couple minutes with these girls, and their close bonds will be obvious.
They have already started to create traditions for future Glitter Girls.
“There are so many inside jokes and funny sayings between us, I don’t think I could list them all,” Nuffer said. “We also have families within our team, pairing a less experienced dancer with a girl who’s been on the team for a couple years, who can help them and tell them what to expect. We hope to build on to these families as the years pass, and start new Glitter Girls traditions.”
With a positive vibe they give off throughout practice, it is simply logical that the leaders of these girls would use only affirmative actions to discipline the girls.
“With both drill teams I’ve been on, we’ve had ‘demerits’, where you get points taken off if you’re late, or forget equipment,” Nuffer said. “But with the Glitter Girls, there really isn’t any punishment needed. Our coaches use positive reinforcement, and know how to make practice fun yet effective.”
After all of their practice and hard work, the Glitter Girls are ready for competition.
All Southwest students are welcome to come and support these girls as they begin new traditions and set a high standard for the Southwest dance team.
Coach Fine said that their next competition is Oct. 30th at UCM (University of Central Missouri) in Warrensburg.
They will also have dance competitions in January, and would love to have school support at any and all of their team events.
The talented group brought home their first award on Saturday, Oct. 2 at the Blue Springs Marching Festival, winning “Outstanding Color Guard” out of all the 2A, 3A, and 4A bands.
Being such good friends, it seems that these girls are inseparable. They put aside their differences in order to become closer to each other.
“If you were an outsider, you would never even be able to tell apart the classes within our team,” Fine said. “I think they are a great start to a very special group at this school.”
We asked the girls: What is your favorite thing about being a Glitter Girl?
Junior Paige Nuffer: “The bond that everyone shares, and knowing that you have five girls you can always go to, no matter what.”
Junior Ali Schroeder: “The friendship I have with these girls I don’t have with anyone else.”
Junior Hannah Odgers: “All the fun we have, and the inside jokes!”
Junior Katie McClave: “The friendships and memories we create. I know that we will all love and support each other no matter what.”
Freshman Andria Heckmaster: “The people I’ve gotten to meet and all of the fun times we share. I’m the little freshman on the team, and the girls are always there to help me out- whether its with dance or just life.”
Sophomore Amanda Broadhurst: “Im never referred to by my name anymore. When I walk down the halls, it’s always “Hey, dancer!” or ‘Glitter Girl!'”