Through the chaos of girls’ and boys’ basketball playoffs, the beginning of spring sports, and KIC week, we must maintain sight of our amazing winter guard as they continue to work hard and compete at a respectable level. The color guard/winter guard is typically seen as something that participates alongside the marching band however it is much more than that. Winter guard practices three days a week from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM and has just recently started competing. The team competed at Palisade High School on the 17th of February with seven other teams placing first in their division. Charles Ames, a Junior at Palisade High School has been in color guard since his Freshman year and has grown a love for the sport. Ames exclaims, “I first joined color guard because I  really liked all of the colors and I like music a lot so I wanted to try something that incorporated both of those aspects as well as movement.” 

Color Guard requires an extensive amount of coordination as well as awareness and can be a difficult thing to master. Ames says, “The jump from flag to rifle can be quite difficult because you need a different skill set to master it. Color guard is also very time-consuming and it’s hard work. Most of our competitions are at least one day overnight and state and WGIR are two nights overnight.” This sport takes individual skill but also team chemistry and bonding. Charles says, “I think we’re really clicking this year. We definitely have a connection as a team and we all understand that. One of our goals is to get to state and I know he can accomplish that because we have a really good show this year.” On the 24th of February, the team is headed to Loveland to compete in regionals. Good luck this weekend to our dexterous Palisade High School Winter guard, we know you’ll do great!