EXCALIBURS is a familiar name around the halls of Granger High School. They are Granger High’s official drill team that perform at the football games, basketball games, and assemblies. They show off their amazing dances that they have been working on for what seems like forever.

One Excalibur in particular decided to paint a picture of what it’s like being part of the team. Firstly, if someone wants to join the team, they have to always make sure they are on top of their grades. “You need a 3.0 GPA, so if you’re bad at keeping good grades, then don’t do it,” Briana Garcia (11) said.  

Excaliburs aren’t even allowed to fail one quarter of a class. If so, they’ll be kicked off the team. Being late can as well be punishable. It isn’t in general, but if a team member is late, it comes with consequences. Even missing just a little bit of practice can cost them a lot. They could miss a major part of the dance and it will consequently be too late to try and catch up.

If a student is interested in drill but are too scared to go for it, take some advice from the team. “Before you join, I would say to start with dance company. It’s a lot easier and will help you out a lot,” Garcia said. One thing most people probably don’t know is drill team takes a lot more work than it looks like.

“Be ready for the commitment or you won’t make it,” Elica Jaramillo (11) said. With all of these crazy responsibilities, it could scare people away from wanting to try. That’s not the main purpose. “I joined because I just love to dance. I honestly didn’t know it came with so much responsibility,” Garcia said.

The drill team could even bring more than just dance. “I joined because I saw how close the team was and wanted to be a part of that,” Jaramillo said.

Before being on the team, some of the girls used to just pass each other in the hall without saying a word. Now that they’ve joined, that’s completely changed. “I have met Briana before I was on drill but after joining, me and her got really close,” Jaramillo states. Having a friendship helps make working together on drill way easier.

The dances that the team performs take lots of time and practice as we all know. Therefore, it would make sense to be nervous while they’re dancing in front of their peers. “When I’m performing I think about the excitement and how much fun it is. I also think about the counts,” Garcia says. Keeping a positive mindset seems like a good plan.

“I always remember to keep smiling and to try my best to not mess up,” Jaramillo said. We all know how amazing the Excaliburs are at performing so seems like their mindset is doing them good. Each member of the team seems to enjoy being on the Excaliburs even with the challenging rules. Sometimes when something can seem impossible, people can end up loving it.

It sounds like a party being part of something like the Excaliburs, so if people out there are interested, they should go for it. People could be joining for one reason and one reason only and end up getting multiple things out of it. Thanks to the Excaliburs for working so hard and keeping the energy up during games and assemblies.