Winter Guard at Akins has made a turnaround this year after previously being mostly a small affair with teams as small as five or six members.
The activity is often misunderstood and often overlooked as a competitive exercise. Despite having a smaller squad than most competitive programs the Akins team focused more on growth and improvement overall rather than racking up awards this year.
In previous years, the lack of team members and leadership resulted in the team not being considered a big competitor against other schools.
In the summer and the fall the team plays with the marching band, but in the spring the team competes against other schools, performing choreographed dance and throwing skill maneuvers.
Even after recruiting nearly 20 members the team had a rough start to this year’s competition season, finishing near the bottom of the list in two of their four competitions.
“So our season didn’t start off that good because we got in sixth place out of 8, but with a lot of practice we got fourth in our second competition and second in our third all being out of 8 schools,” sophomore Daniela Castillo said.
In the spring the team competes solo in competitions against schools all over Texas. The team had a total of 3 competitions and a championship to end their season.
The team improved slowly throughout the season but was unable to turn the growth into a good ranking in their last competition
The team’s last performance was on March 22 and it went great according to the Winter Guard director Tate Fincher.
“The teams chemistry is outstanding,” Castillo said. “We have gotten a lot closer and we trust each other which really helped us improve.”
Many successful Winter Guard programs grow their programs by aggressively recruiting at the middle schools that have strong band and dance programs. The Akins team has begun an effort to do this as well.
Team members plan on going to Parades Middle School to recruit incoming freshman for the future generations. The team wants to recruit as many students as possible to be a considered as a “competitive school.”
Besides recruiting for next year, the team is also focusing on improving by students creating their own choreography.
“It makes you feel great just knowing that you were able to write something that someone is doing in the show, even if its not a big deal,” sophomore Jorge Rocha said.
Despite struggling in competitions the Winter Guard team improved big time compared to last year. With the team 20+ strong and stronger than the precious years, the team has a big and bright future ahead of them, Fincher said.
“I’m really proud with these group of guys. I couldn’t ask for a better team and I’m really excited for next year,” Fincher said.