By Cam Eberly
Many people will go to Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium to watch both Susquehanna basketball teams but do not realize that another team performs at halftime.
Halftime is typically when people leave to go to the concession stand or use the restrooms because it is a time for teams to rest. However, Susquehanna is fortunate enough to have 14 girls who love to dance and dedicate their time to entertaining the crowd until play resumes.
The Susquehanna Dance team is a student-led club sport that performs at the intermission of both the men’s and women’s home basketball games. Senior, Valerie Black is the team captain and junior, Jaclyn Kipp is the team leader. This gives them the ultimate say on what songs the team will perform throughout the year. However, everyone is encouraged to give their input or recommendation on a certain song for the team to dance to.
Junior Emily Rose has choreographed a routine in the past. She said this about her experience, “I picked four songs, and I edited them together. It is not the responsibility of the team members to do this, but I know how to edit them. I came up with the choreography and then taught the team. It was very exciting for me. I even got my name announced when we walked out to the piece.”
Typically, there will be four to five different routines that they will do throughout the entirety of the season. Each one of those pieces lasts around one to two minutes in length, so it takes up a small section of halftime. Therefore, people still get to get up and walk around during the break.
To an outsider that just watches these ladies perform, it most likely seems like all sunshine and rainbows. However, there are many hardships that go along with it just like any other sport here at school. There are try-outs in September just to make it on the team. Once you are on the team, there are four practices a week that last one hour each. These practices take place from 10-11 p.m. as that is the only time that space is available for them and that avoids night classes. Along with that, many obstacles come from the fact that it is a club sport and not affiliated with the university. They do not get any benefits and sometimes find it hard to get recognized by people at the university.
Rose had this to say about the issue, “We do not get any of the benefits that the athletic teams have. Just this year, SGA paid for uniforms and we are so thankful for that. The past two years, I have had to pay $50 for a costume that I wore for a year. If I could see anything change, I would love to be athletically recognized.”
If you end up going to a basketball game, make sure to tune into the halftime show as the team works hard, spending hours perfecting their skills. If you want to get involved, there are try-outs held at the beginning of every academic year in September which anyone is invited to attend.
The team performed Thursday, Nov,16 in the first home game of the year. They also have games throughout the rest of the weekend. Come out and support multiple River Hawk teams!