Color guard seniors are celebrating the last 19 days of school. Color guard is a team that dances with equipment such as flags, rifles and sabers. There are two seasons throughout the school year–indoor and outdoor.

Payton Hull, a member since 6th grade, said, “I loved the performance aspect of it, and I always will, and I’m excited to continue with it at University of Maryland.”

Outdoor guard performs with the marching band and it starts around August and ends in November. The team also goes to New York and Disney World to perform.

Indoor color guard (also known as Winter guard) is from November-April, and they perform without the band. Instead of doing a routine to the marching band, they perform a routine to a chosen song.  They are the competition group.

Geneva Tecle, a first season member, said, “My favorite thing about color guard was meeting new friends and spinning with everybody.” Tecle will be attending Salisbury University.

Caroline John and Payton Hull were on junior color guard together in middle school, which is a combined team of New Market and Windsor Knolls.

Color guard competes based on size with the marching band to competitions like Tournament of Bands (TOB). Winter guard competes with Keystone Indoor Drill Association (KIDA!) where they compete based on skill level, rather than on size. They can win Bronze, Gold, White, Blue, Platinum and World. If the team wins World they move on to compete at Winter Guard International (WGI) located in Dayton, Ohio.

Caroline John, a member of color guard since 6th grade, said, “I loved having something to look forward to for the past seven years, and I will be continuing color guard at James Madison University.”

Support the Lancers’ color guard next year, and watch them perform!