Although fall sports have come to an end, CHS poms is just getting ready for their winter season, with their first competition Jan. 7. Before the competition, Poms performed at a Washington Wizards game on Jan 6.

Pre-competition practices for the team are no easy task. They spend time creating the perfect routine, and making sure that everyone is always on beat.

“To prepare, we do various cardio and ab workouts at the beginning of practice because we have to build up stamina and core strength to perform a six minute routine,” senior and captain Tatiana Teixeira said.

“Along with that, we spend a lot of time perfecting what we teach because each girl has to hit the exact same position if we want to win.”

It takes a lot to get ready for competitions, leaving the team with about two months in between the end of football season and the beginning of competition season. Poms’ competition routines are vastly different from what fans see at football games.

“For competition, we work on one routine for the entire time so we really focus in on every detail of every move we do,” captain and senior Jackie Fasano said. “Its also a lot more serious because more is at stake. We get judged on everything we do. We focus a lot more on technique and working to look uniform.”

Additionally, competition season allows the team to perform and practice more technical dances, whereas during the football season the team has to mold their routines to fit what the audience likes to see.

“Football routines are usually two to three minutes, while competition routines are double that,” Teixeira said. “Also, we up the difficulty, the football crowds want to see cool visuals, but the judges want to see advanced and synchronized technique.”

The choreography improves as the team expands. By having a bigger team, with two more girls than last year’s team, the girls are able to perform different routines.

“Our team has definitely improved,” Teixeira said. “It helps that we have more girls this year because we can have cooler formations and more intricate choreography.”

The captains and upperclassmen are aware of what it takes to do well during competition season. The responsibility of establishing a hard-working team that also performs cohesively together lies in the hands of the captains and coach.

“As captains, we always try to go all out during practice because when the leaders are working hard, the other team members follow by example,” Teixeira said. “Communication is definitely the most important thing in facilitating hard work. We try to talk to the girls while we dance, saying things like ‘smile!’ and ‘get low!’ so we can make sure everyone is putting in her all.”

The poms team, along with a few other teams from around the county, performed a choreographed routine given to them by the officials hosting the event, the spirit organization, Cheerleaders Of America, at the Wizards game on Jan 6.

According to head coach Tiffany Carmi, the poms team performed with a variety of teams, including teams from the DC, Maryland, and Delaware area.

This exclusive opportunity gave the team additional practice and experience.

“I think that performing in such a professional and different environment is an amazing opportunity to showcase our team’s talent, as well as see other teams in the county’s talent,” senior Samantha Akum said. “I hope this experience can help us grow as a team, and as individual dancers.”

This year the poms team will be in the second poms division in the county for the second year in a row, with six or seven teams in each division.

After working so hard to prepare for this season, the girls hope to do well in the competitions, but at the end of the day, it’s all about how well they work together to accomplish this.

“I definitely think we will do well this year,” Fasano said. “It doesn’t matter how we place as long as we know we put our hearts and souls into our dance and have a good time. This year has been an exceptionally good one since we are all so close.”