Despite a lack of senior leadership and student participation in this year’s winterguard squad, the team still has hope. While the team is allowed to compete with seven members, they need at least ten to be able to execute the more difficult formations and routines.

The team is holding tryouts to fill those three empty spots and is looking for backups in case of illness or injuries. The lack of participation from the high school has forced the team to allow tryouts for students from the junior high as well.

“Without the addition of participants to perform the difficult routines, the team has almost no chance of competing at a high level,” Carolyn Simpson, ’03, said. Simpson is one of the three returning third year members who have to step up their leadership this year, since there are no seniors on the squad.

“We are not looking to win,” Simpson said, “all we want to do is improve on what we have accomplished last year and finish in the top five in all our competitions.” Although the prospects of winning are low, coach Lisa Stallings still has expectations for this year.

“My hope for this year is that the girls have fun and continue doing something they enjoy,” Stallings said. “Especially for this guard, we are there to witness to our competitors with the songs we choose and how we act at our competitions.”

According to Stallings, the main reason for the lack of members is that there are only a handful of girls at FC that have been involved in winterguard for a lengthy period of time. Therefore, it is hard to get new members that are experienced and interested. The colorguard, however, had a successful season and finished first in Selma and fourth in Santa Cruz.

“Our performances in Selma and Santa Cruz were great,” Crystal Stallings, ’04, said. “I like having my sister as coach because she has experience and in the past when she has been coach we have been very successful.”

If anyone is interested, they can sign up in the office or ask a team member for additional information.