2008 Woodie Awards
SHU dance team 'one big family'
Mike Barrett
Issue date: 2/8/07 Section: Sports
cred Heart. As a fellow athlete, I know what the support of a great crowd can do for a team and how uplifting it can be. As an active member of the Red Wave, I have seen that one group of people is always right next to me, cheering their hardest for their beloved Pioneers.
Flashing their million dollar smiles and moves, this talented group of ladies has caught the attention of all of the Pioneer's fans.
Yes, I am talking about Sacred Heart's very own dance team.
Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the team's members to find out what the team is all about.
Considered a club and not an actual team, the dance team is one of the few teams that is in season all year round. With pre-season starting in August and tryouts and practices running until the end of spring semester, the team has some of the most dedicated and hard working students at Sacred Heart.
"Being a club and not a team, much of our funding for our trips and uniforms has to come out of our own pockets or through fundraising," said team captain Jackie Stephens, a junior and native of Ridgefield Park, N.J.
" Our last fundraiser was a dance-a-thon that raised us some money for nationals. We hired a DJ and danced for over two hours, earning money for the team along the way," said Stephens.
The team also donated a portion of the earnings to the House of Roses foundation, a non-profit organization that teaches under privileged children the art of dance.
With a roster of about 34 dancers, the team performs year round at home football and basketball games and also dances at some open houses for the university.
"I saw the team dance at an open house, and tried out this past October," said freshman Kate Poole of Torrington.
This group of dancers is made up of girls who have danced all their lives and planned on doing so in college.
"I have danced for 18 years now and I knew I wasn't going to go to a university that didn't have a dance team," said junior Meghan Duckworth of Cumberland R.I.
Flashing their million dollar smiles and moves, this talented group of ladies has caught the attention of all of the Pioneer's fans.
Yes, I am talking about Sacred Heart's very own dance team.
Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the team's members to find out what the team is all about.
Considered a club and not an actual team, the dance team is one of the few teams that is in season all year round. With pre-season starting in August and tryouts and practices running until the end of spring semester, the team has some of the most dedicated and hard working students at Sacred Heart.
"Being a club and not a team, much of our funding for our trips and uniforms has to come out of our own pockets or through fundraising," said team captain Jackie Stephens, a junior and native of Ridgefield Park, N.J.
" Our last fundraiser was a dance-a-thon that raised us some money for nationals. We hired a DJ and danced for over two hours, earning money for the team along the way," said Stephens.
The team also donated a portion of the earnings to the House of Roses foundation, a non-profit organization that teaches under privileged children the art of dance.
With a roster of about 34 dancers, the team performs year round at home football and basketball games and also dances at some open houses for the university.
"I saw the team dance at an open house, and tried out this past October," said freshman Kate Poole of Torrington.
This group of dancers is made up of girls who have danced all their lives and planned on doing so in college.
"I have danced for 18 years now and I knew I wasn't going to go to a university that didn't have a dance team," said junior Meghan Duckworth of Cumberland R.I.
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