Young pom squad debuts routine at basketball game
By TRICIA SWEET Trend columnnist January 19, 2012 5:10PM
Coco Stevenson, 9, of Lake Bluff warms up with everyone doing jumping jacks. | Michael Schmidt~Sun-Times Media
Lake Forest High School Varsity Dance Team
Winter Pom/Dance Clinic for students in first-eighth grade
East Campus, 1285 N. McKinley Road, Lake Forest
Jan. 13
Funds raised defray the costs involved with dance team competition
Updated: February 20, 2012 8:44AM
For a young girl, dancing before hundreds during halftime of the Lake Forest High School boys’ basketball game is a memorable experience.
“It was really fun to dance in front of everyone,” said Charlotte Yehle, a fourth-grader at Sheridan School. “I really liked it.”
The nationally-ranked Lake Forest High School Varsity Dance Team conducted a Winter Pom/Dance Clinic Jan. 13 for students in first through eighth grades. Participants filed into the Lake Forest High School dining room around 5 p.m., some excited, some nervous — some both.
They learned a dance routine and enjoyed pizza. Then, they walked into the basketball gym and were ensconced on rows to cheer the team as it emerged for the game against Lake Zurich High School.
At halftime, with the Scouts’ varsity trailing the Bears, the 79 girls gave the crowd a lift, performing for roughly four minutes with music blaring. The smiling girls did such a great job inspiring the denizens that Lake Forest rallied in the second half and went on to beat Lake Zurich, 58-53.
“I think all the girls had a blast learning the routine and meeting new girls,” Varsity Dance Team Member Kathleen Kurschner said.
Clinics have been held for many years and for the past decade the girls have performed at halftime.
All proceeds from the $40 clinic cost help to defray the Dance Team’s competition expenses.
The squads have been competing in the Universal Dance Association’s national competition since the early ’90s and have been in the top-ten final ranking for jazz and/or pom since 2003.
In February, the Dance Team heads to Orlando to compete at the UDA National Competition.
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