A year with poms

“We’re working on this five minute routine where you get off the floor and you can't even walk or stand up, ” senior officer Evelyn Hoskins says about Blair’s varsity poms team's recent performance at the countywide competition. Poms is one of Blair’s spirit teams, focusing on dance over cheerleading stunts. Cheer and poms are the school’s only two-season sports, usually performing at school events in the fall and then competing in the winter. With an incredibly dynamic schedule, the team prepares profusely over the year to prepare for their stunning performances and competitions.

Poms competition image

Photo: The poms team after their recent competition.

The poms team after their recent competition. Photo courtesy of Mark Soriano.

Summer season

The poms season informally starts at the beginning of summer vacation, where officers and upperclassmen choreograph sections of the fall routines. Hoskins describes the choreographing process from this year. “[They ask] you to choreograph poms, kicks, ripple or hip-hop [sections] for each football routine, [which] have those four key components,” she explains.

After the upperclassmen spend the summer picking songs and choreographing their sections, the official season starts two weeks before school starts. During those weeks, the team practices daily to learn the dances and iron out their schedule for the fall season. After that, their performance season starts with freshman orientation in August.

Fall season

Once the school year is underway, the team holds weekly two-hour practices. Practices usually start with cardio, stretching, and occasionally, a workout, before moving into practicing their dance routines. “We do a quick cardio two minute warm-up ... Then, we do across the floor stretching, and then a bigger cardio session, or a full workout so we’d run a mile, or do stairs or lift weights ... Then, we clean a different part of [each] dance,” Hoskins says.

During the fall, the team performs at a variety of events, including Blair’s open house, back-to-school nights at local schools like Pine Crest and Rolling Terrace Elementary School, and of course, sports games at Blair. Poms performs at varsity soccer senior nights, every home football game, some flag football and field hockey games, and volleyball’s annual Dig Pink game for breast cancer awareness. In early October, Blair's team also hosts the Mini-Poms clinic for fourth through eighth graders. During the clinic, Blair team members teach students a piece of choreography and give them an opportunity to perform on the Blair field.

These performances enable the team to support Blair’s athletes and represent school spirit at games. “Being able to provide the spirit and energy by going to so many different games [gives] you a sense for all sorts of different teams at the school, and you get to support your friends who are on different athletic teams, [and] also getting to be a symbol for school spirit and pride,” Hoskins explains.

Winter season

After the football and broader fall season comes to an end, the team gears up for their winter competition season. But in addition to competing, the team hosts a few different team-bonding traditions. Sophomore member Evvaleen Robinson talks about one of her favorite events: Pomsgiving, the team’s annual Thanksgiving potluck in mid-November. “We bring food, we have a good time, we do karaoke, it’s really fun,” Robinson says. In December, the team does a secret gift exchange with three rounds of anonymous gifts delivered to each member through their teachers. 

During the winter season, poms performs at winter sports and prepares for their dance competitions. “[Winter] is when we're also training for our competition, but we do a lot of basketball game halftime times. In the winter, it's pretty much just basketball halftimes, and maybe bocce,” Robinson says.

Competition season starts during January and ends in February. For the competitions, the team puts together a five-minute showcase with a variety of new styles, including lyrical, jazz, and drum line sections. “[Competition] season is entirely done by our coaches so our competition routine is between three to five minutes… It’s super intense, a lot of cardio, a lot of technique… our competition piece has a lot more to it,” Hoskins comments.

At this season’s countywide competition, the team ended their season with a passionate performance filled with dynamic tricks, stunning choreography, and incredible energy, earning them a third place trophy. 

Overall, the team was very proud of their performance. Many of the seniors, including Hoskins, have fond memories of their time on the team. “I've been on the team all four years, so it's crazy to look back and see how much I've changed and matured every year… there's so many different moments of getting to relax and have fun while still being able to work hard and push yourself mentally and physically, while growing as a team and dancer and person in general,” Hoskins says.

Although the specific events they perform at can vary from year to year, the poms team’s schedule stays largely consistent. So, if you’re ever at a Blair sports game, make sure to look out for the team’s incredible performances!