By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
It is on to state for the Waterford Union High School Varsity Dance Team – again.
The Wolverines are sending two events to the Wisconsin Association of Cheer and Pom Coaches State Dance Championships Saturday in La Crosse.
Waterford has sent at least one entry to state in each of the six years of coach Deanna Schicker’s tenure.
The Wolverines will compete this season in two entries. Waterford is competing in the Division 1 Jazz dance competition and Division 2 Pom competition.
“They’re excited,” Schicker said. “They’re determined. They know this last week is a lot of hard work, a lot more intense preparation. They like to get down to business and work and make sure they’re at their best for their performance at state.”
A small carrot at the end of the stick for the Wolverines is a hotel stay in LaCrosse after a week of amped-up rehearsals and final preparations.
“It’s a night where they have a team dinner, a team practice and it’s really just forming that bond of them being there together as a team,” Schicker said. “It signifies what they’re there for. I think they just enjoy being around each other and being able to immerse themselves in the culture of dancing.”
The Wolverines advanced to state out of a WACPC regional event Jan. 30 at Watertown High School. Waterford competes in the WACPC’s Southern Regional, which is the largest, in number of schools, of the WACPC’s three regions.
Waterford won the Pom competition and finished second to Franklin in the Jazz competition. The regional title in the pom competition is the team’s fourth in a row.
Waterford’s jazz routine is set to “Something in the Water” by Carrie Underwood. The team’s pom routine is set to a mix of “Get Up” and “Pump up the Jam” by Technotronic. Each routine is slightly more than two minutes in length.
Waterford’s Varsity Dance Team is one of the Southern Lakes Conference’s more historically dominant programs, and the lack of space in the team’s trophy case is proof.
The Wolverines won their sixth straight conference dance title Jan. 9 at Union Grove High School. Dating to the 2008-2009 season Waterford Varsity Dance can claim seven of the last eight titles.
“Never,” Schicker said when asked if winning ever gets old. “Every year, it’s always a new team with a new routine and new challenges. To have to fight for your title every year, it never gets old.”
Aside from the 2009-2010 season, when Union Grove won the conference title, Waterford is the winner of every conference title since the SLC assumed its current configuration in the 2009-2010 school year.
The Wolverines are clearly the standard bearer when it comes to varsity dance teams in the SLC. Continuity and commitment are among the reasons for Waterford’s almost unblemished streak of success.
“I would say their work ethic and the fact that these girls really think as a team, since nothing can be done without every single one of the thinking as a team,” Schicker said when asked why the team continues to be so good.
Schicker is one of the owners of Foursis Dance Studio in Rochester, and has coached the Wolverines to their six consecutive titles. Several members of the team dance at Foursis and other area studios.
Waterford Varsity Dance maintains a Facebook page with current information on the team’s events. It is found by using the search term “Waterford Varsity Dan
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