The Oakdale Junior High School Colorguard Team is once again having a notable year.
Earning championship status for the 2022-23 competition season, this year’s team of 10 students is picking up where last year’s team left off.
With two Second Place finishes and a recent First Place Award at the most recent Turlock High School competition, the OJHS team is excited for what’s to come.
The 2023-24 squad features six returning teammates and four newcomers. Three of the four new participants are seventh graders, all under the guidance of OJHS English Teacher and Colorguard Coach Danesa Menge.
She has coached the team the past 21 years and brings with her a total of 31 years’ experience of coaching and performing combined.
The older members of the squad are also stepping up to help lead the way.
“It’s weird to be the eighth grader since our eighth graders were our role models and we aspired to be in guard,” veteran teammate Chloe Gilbert said. “And now we’re that for the four seventh graders.”
While the team brings a number of experienced team members to the table, the format of competing has changed, which Coach Menge admitted was a concern for her at first. Transitioning from what she described as classes (upper and lower) in competition, determined by varying factors, the team now competes in rounds, with all teams being placed on the same level for competition.
“This year it’s all of us mixed into one, which I was very apprehensive as to what that would look like for us,” the coach shared. “I know where we fit, since we’re still pretty young.”
Yet the team has shown, that while the competition may appear to be a bit tough, they are ready to put their skill and commitment to the test.
Currently the team practices twice a week for close to three hours each day after school.
“It’s definitely exhausting, but it’s worth the patience. It’s worth everything,” eighth grader, Maddilyn Baker shared.
Several team members added that while they enjoy the challenge and competition of guard, they also enjoy the friendships which have been fostered through their team.
“It was really nice making a lot of new friends,” Aynsleigh Pearson said. “If it wasn’t for Colorguard, I probably wouldn’t have talked to any of these people.”
“It’s fun because we get breaks and we mess around a little bit, but we also keep ourselves on task doing our work and trying hard,” Abby Holt added.
Coach Menge said while she loves the relationships that are fostered and teaching the students something new, the skills are not easy and she’s not easy as a coach.
“I am hard on them, because I know what their potential is and I want to push them to that,” she said. “Even if they don’t always feel it or see it. Then when they do things like the competition or a good run, they don’t always realize how good they are until those moments.”
Chloe Gilbert stated simply, “Getting first always feels good.”
A true testament to the result of hard work and commitment fostered by their coach.
“Watching them grow as performers and be more confident. That’s always just such a wonderful thing to witness, because it is hard,” Coach Menge said of her continued love for the team. “No one comes into Oakdale Junior High Colorguard knowing what they’re getting into. Unless they have siblings or a neighbor that has done it before they have no idea what it is and how much work it actually is until they experience it.”
For those that do join, she said it can be hard to describe but wonderful to experience.
“It takes us a while to get there,” Menge continued, noting the lightbulb moment of seeing the hard work pay off. “But it’s family for life. It’s friendships for life and it stays with you.”
