The Warren Central Winter Guard is coming off a very successful and exciting season last year and has high hopes for this season.
“We plan to work hard all the time. Practicing the little things matter. We have to be very critical of ourselves throughout the entire season and make sure we’re very confident with all of the parts of our show, even the little ones,” junior Angelina Kelly said.
The team is setting forth goals for themselves and for each other in order to try to push themselves toward another season of greatness.
“My personal goal for this season is to become a leader and be more confident and my team goal is that we all are open minded and always putting 100% effort into everything we do,” sophomore Melisa Kraus said.
While they came off a great season last year, winning a competition in Japan and becoming a WGI finalist, the athletes are choosing to not only focus on the past, but their future as well. They understand that they will still need to work hard and continuously improve in order to stay successful.
“At the start of practices, we were not as strong as we are now. At the beginning, we weren't consistent but now we're catching everything and we're getting a lot stronger. Working out at every practice has also made us stronger. Although we're a lot stronger, we’ve also been working on being softer with everything we do and that's also something that has been improving,” Kelly said.
The Warriors have already improved greatly this season and everyone is stepping up to fulfill their role.
“We’ve been very productive and our show is looking great at the moment. We’ve all stepped up skill and performance wise. And we have a really strong mindset,” Kraus said.
While hard work is needed on the path to triumph, there are other values that are needed as well, values that the Guard has already mastered.
“I really just want a for us to stay motivated throughout the whole season, always give our best effort, build a really amazing bond between each other, and have fun, but also stay serious with everything we do,” Kelly said.
However, as important as being successful is to the Guard, they still care more about each other and are very thankful for all that Winter Guard has given them.
“I love being able to bond and get closer with the girls on my team. Without guard, I'm not sure I would be where I am today. These girls are so much fun to be around and the bond I've built with them I can see lasting well after high school,” Kelly said.
The Winter Guard will have their first competition on Feb. 9 and have high hopes for that competition and the ones that follow.