Teams from around the U.S. travel and compete for a national title in their division. The Patriettes prepared all year and headed off to Orlando, Florida compete on Feb. 1.
All 17 athletes went on the trip, as well as their coach, Emma Vogt. Many parents and family members also came to support the team.
The Patriettes did a lot of fundraisers to save up for this trip. One of the fundraising opportunities they did was a Mini Camp for K-5th graders to work on skills and learn dances from the team. They also had a Denim & Diamonds Daddy-Daughter Dance that had over 100 participants attending. The team also sold Super Bowl Squares and held the Patriettes Point Camp over the summer.
To kick off their trip, The Patriettes had a send-off the night before they left for the airport. The parents of the dancers put together gift bags, filled with matching Disney ears and outfits to wear throughout the trip. This also included a Missouri Dance Team shirt that gets a new design every year, and each team from Missouri wears it on the same day. This has been a tradition with the team to get “Disney merch” before leaving, creating excitement for the trip. Following this, the team performed their hip-hop routine at a basketball game that night, then headed off for their last sleep before Disney.
The Patriettes left for Disney on Feb. 1, arriving the following afternoon. They stayed at the Coronado Springs Disney Resort on Disney property. To celebrate their trip, they went to Planet Hollywood for a team dinner the night they arrived.
Senior Ellie Callahan said she loved kicking the trip off with the team dinner.
“I loved the team dinner. Our name was on the big screen and it was a great way to start the trip!” she said.
Since the Patriettes arrived a day early, the day before they competed they visited Animal Kingdom. The team went on many rides, but the favorite was the new Avatar Ride. Some other rides they went on were Mount Everest, The Safari, and Dinosaur. They had a team dinner at Rainforest Cafe and surprised their senior captain, Sophie Ni, with a surprise cupcake and birthday song. The night back at the resort, the team had one last practice outside their rooms before competing the next day.
The day of the competition was an early morning. Dancers had to get up at 5 a.m. to start getting ready for the day. The team was out the door by 6:45 a.m., on the bus headed to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to compete. They warmed up first thing when they arrived and headed to the practice floor at 8:30 a.m. The nerves were high waiting backstage before walking out for their first performance. They performed both dances and were done by the early afternoon. They were super proud of the hard work they had put into both their routines and celebrated by visiting Magic Kingdom that night.
The next two days, the dancers visited Epcot and Hollywood Studios, bonding with each other throughout the whole time. They also watched other teams compete throughout this time and on finals day at the Field House. The Field House, with the iconic Disney castle as a backdrop, is a staple at Nationals, and every team packs in to watch the best of the best performing.
“It was a super fun experience and I loved watching all the amazing teams,” junior Audrey Feltz said.
Watching other teams perform brought inspiration and excitement for the new season coming up, and it was so fun seeing the creativity in all routines.
The team left on the afternoon of Feb. 4 and arrived back home that night. Concluding a super eventful trip, the Patriettes loved bonding together and enjoying their experience together.
Parkway South was the only Parkway school to attend Nationals–as is usually the case. Even though the Patriettes didn’t do as well as they hoped, they still had a very fun time and left room for improvement for next year! Some other Missouri teams placed well. Lafayette High School placed 7th in Medium Pom, Rockwood Summit High School took 5th in Small Gameday, as well as Wentzville Holt High School, who placed 2nd in both Small Game Day and Hip Hop.
The Patriettes are excited to work hard this season and compete again next year!
