St. Charles High School and St. Charles West have combined their winter guard teams to create one united district team. Creating a larger team will allow the group to compete one class higher compared to the current one, allowing for more competition and fixing the problem of short numbers. Last year this happened with the swim programs of the two schools, also due to fewer members. The winter guard performs much like color guard, only without the band.
“People use more tools and it’s more acting based,” sophomore Amelia Johnson said.
The team performs in competitions to earn scores and awards by judges over the other teams. This year the winter guard will be performing Drift, a shipwreck choreographed performance. At the beginning of the season there was a short two-day audition process. In this process people who wanted to be captains got the chance to try to lead a group to secure their spot as a leader on the team.
“So far we’ve really just been learning basic skills and things more dance-related moves,“ said Senior Captain Izzy Lathan when describing practices so far.
The winter guard team is coached by Jamie Beffa and Lily Warden. Coach Warden participated in band and color guard in high school as well as in college at the University of Central Missouri. At UCM Warden began participating in winter guard. For the last 10 years Warden has coached the St. Charles West Marching Warriors color guard.
“I have a few goals for this season… to create an environment where every member feels at home. I want them to gain not only performance skills but also the confidence, discipline, and teamwork they’ll carry with them long after high school,” said Warden.
The team practices every Monday and Wednesday from 7-10pm and will be competing on Saturdays once competitions start up. Winter guard will compete in three local MCCGA competitions and travel to Springfield, Missouri, for MCCGA championships. They will also share their show at the St. Charles West Variety show coming up.
