The Hofstra University Dance Team has added to their hardware collection, earning three second place trophies in the Pom, Jazz and Game Day disciplines at the Universal Dance Association College Dance Team National Championship from Friday, Jan. 17, to Sunday, Jan. 19.
The annual competition is held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex located in the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida.
“To do three categories for the first time ever and to place second in all of them is just so exciting for everybody,” said head coach Kelly Olsen-Leon.
While the Pride are veterans of the Pom and Jazz categories, placing first in Pom for each of the last four years, Game Day was a new challenge this year.
“We were nervous about adding a third category because we didn’t know if we’d be able to handle it, [but] really the decision was, ‘Why not?’” Olsen-Leon said. “We’ve been putting such a large emphasis on [basketball] game day [routines] on campus as it is; we might as well bring it to the national stage.”
“[With Game Day] everything doesn’t have to be so perfect; they get a little bit of freedom to have fun,” Olsen-Leon added. “I’m glad we did it.”
The Pride’s Pom routine was choreographed by Dan Sapp, the Jazz routine was created by Hofstra Dance Team alum and first time choreographer Zach Galasso and the Game Day dance was arranged by assistant coach April Hamner.
“We put a lot of trust in our choreographers,” Olsen-Leon said. “They’re part of the family.”
The team begins learning their routines in early fall, with practices intensifying as Nationals approach. By December, the practices become daily.
“It’s a lot of repetition, a lot of hours, a lot of time,” Olsen-Leon said.
But the Pride has trust in the process, knowing hard work is necessary to see results. The team practices for hours daily over the course of several months to put on a two-minute routine.
“We’ve pushed them really hard in all of their routines. [The dances] were super athletic. They’re probably the most difficult routines that we’ve ever had, and they just kept rising to the challenge,” Olsen-Leon said. “They all want to do well. They want to succeed. They have a natural drive.”
In addition to preparing physically, the team preps mentally by working with sports psychologist and professor Steven Frierman. They discuss how to focus on the present and this year’s competition rather than dwelling on past years.
“It’s definitely hard to do that – [because we’ve been successful in the past], the demands and the expectations from everybody, like fans and judges, is higher,” Olsen-Leon said.
Before taking the stage at each competition, Olsen-Leon and her coaching staff give the team a special pep talk.
“We remind each other who we are and the program that we are,” Olsen-Leon said. “We literally say, ‘We’re Hofstra. Go out there and be Hofstra,’ because that’s what our program has prided itself on: being confident, being strong, being somebody that goes out there and demands the floor.”
With Nationals over, the Hofstra Dance Team will focus on Game Day routines for the rest of the women’s and men’s basketball seasons, including the men’s Colonial Athletic Association Tournament on March 7-10 in Washington, D.C.
“They’re a hardworking program, and that’s the biggest thing that I’m proud of,” Olsen-Leon said. “There’s a lot of teams that will [be at] the top of one category and the bottom in another. By getting second in all three of our categories, [it] displays what a well-rounded program we are.”
This article appeared in the Feb. 4, 20202 publication of The Hofstra Chronicle.
Photo courtesy of the Hofstra University Dance Team
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