When people think of a college dance team, they think it’s all rainbows, athletes, and shiny uniforms. In reality, it’s sequin rashes and bad wedgies you can’t pick for hours. Being on a collegiate team has been the best experience of my two years in college and I have found my best friends on this team, but there are definitely some things that we laugh about when people ask us if this lifestyle is glamorous. It is not.
The dance program is fairly new, which means we don’t have a great budget. We can afford certain things and there are obviously priorities. But even with a budget, it’s impossible for us to build a dance room with mirrors or just our own private space. We usually hop around from the band hall in the arts building to the convocation center. But it is never really our own space to practice, and there are definitely no mirrors. So in all honesty, it’s pretty impressive that we can do these dances with great formations and still look good dancing when we never practice in front of mirrors or have seen ourselves actually do the dance before we perform it.
There is nothing I fear more in the whole entire world than flashing the whole student body one day. And I was so close to it this month, actually. It was quite terrifying. Our dresses and tops, although super cute, are either low cut or not bra friendly. At the first basketball game, we wore halter-tops that we had never tried before and knew our only option was to wear a strapless bra underneath. Even after all the pinning and everything, it was still super loose and incredibly dangerous. During one of our dances I was showing major side boob and I could’ve sworn I felt way too much air on my chest.
Every year, once football season is over and we come back in January ready for basketball season, the whole squad has short hair. We think it’s kind of funny how we all cut our hair in December because it is so crazy damaged! We have to curl or straighten our hair all the time, which means our ends are split and our hair is burnt.
Now football games are a whole other story. They are an experience, a journey some might call it. We deal with waking up extra early to be ready, being at the Alamodome about seven hours before the game even begins, and drunk students. It is definitely as fun as it sounds. During the game, we’re on the sideline right in front of the student section, and it is the most entertaining thing ever. Students get pretty rowdy and into the games, and then they get drunk. One time at the beginning of the third quarter this guy dropped his whole margarita on my water bottle, and although it looked yummy, I couldn’t drink from it for the rest of the game. It was so great.
With the drunks come the very nice fans, but also the very creepy fans. Most fans will follow along and cheer with us, shoot us a compliment here and there, but then there are the fans that just take it to the next level. My first season on the team, I was the second dancer on the sideline. This group of guys called me number two the whole season, trying to get my attention since they didn’t know my name, and would scream all type of “flattering” things to me. They obviously thought it was very nice of them to compliment me, and they were never insulting, but just imagine the level of creepiness that it gets to.
Smiling for four hours straight is very hard. You wouldn’t think so, but oh it is. Our cheeks feel like puddy and your forehead starts to hurt little by little.
Then, slowly but surely our booty shorts start really getting up there until you get the biggest wedgie of all time, AND YOU CAN’T PICK AT IT. It is painful, it is hell, and sometimes you just want to pick it and not care what anyone thinks. But then you realize that the big screen cameras are always on you, and you smile through the pain once again.
But the for sure most painful thing that happens to us during football games is when fans start getting hungry and going to get delicious nachos, hotdogs, popcorn, and you haven’t eaten in five hours and they’re just sitting there with their feet up enjoying a great game and their greasy food while you yell “Go Runners” at them. It is torture.
But all in all, no matter how time consuming being on a collegiate dance team is, how much hair you burn, how long practices are, how tired we are at the end of a game day, or how many sequin rashes we get from our tiny dresses, we wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Dancing is our passion, and to be able to do it for the best university in the world is the greatest and most precious thing UTSA could give back to us. I have made the best of friends, I’ve met my bridesmaids, I have danced at a college bowl game, danced on Kyle Field at A&M in front of a hundred thousand people, and I get to dance my little heart out every week for the most grateful, beautiful Roadrunners. Thank you UTSA Pom Squad for being the most beautiful team and helping me make the greatest of memories.