Club Sport of the Month - Club Dance
Dancing Their Way to The Top
As this month’s Club Sport of the Month, the ECU Club Dance Team feels a sense of accomplishment and much appreciated recognition. Club President Emma Kelly, Vice President Graceann King, and Vice President in Training Kaylee Bravo explain what this means to them.
Some may assume joining a club sport is all play and no work, but these three women want to set the record straight. “Not many people realize that club sports are completely student run organizations – We don’t have a coach. So to win something like Club Sport of the Month feels good to know that your work is being recognized because we don’t have someone telling us what to do, we just do what we’ve got to do. We figure that out and do it ourselves and run a team. It’s a whole lot of work, so it’s nice for people to recognize that,” says King.
Doing Things Differently
The executive board for this club is different than others and it seems to be benefitting them. Instead of a waiting until their senior year to run for a position, freshmen in the club are encouraged to hit the ground running, explains King. “Our exec. board is completely different from everyone else’s. We go by year. Freshmen run for Vice President in Training, and that automatically kind of makes you Vice President. Other clubs have all seniors on their executive board, but we have people learning to move up in their positions. They start off at a very young age, so we have younger executive members when you compare us to other teams.”
Vice President in Training, Kaylee Bravo, accredits her position to giving her the leadership skills she needs to succeed. “Leadership wise, I feel like it’s hard to be a leader to your friends because they are your friends, and you are the same age. For me, being the VP in training I’m younger than most of the team, so I’ve had to learn how to gain respect from them as a leader.”
Getting Involved
Being active within the local community is something this club is also winning at. From volunteering for The Fitness Marshall event in February to working with Dance Ability and the Ronald McDonald House, they do it all.
“Something unique that we do is a lot of times we will go somewhere to both volunteer and dance, so it’s like a dual purpose kind of thing. In the past we have done Walk MS, Heart Walk, Reindeer Dash for Cash, and at the end of this month we will be volunteering at the Buddy Walk,” says Kelly.
Making It Fun
As a club, they remind each other to do their best, but to have fun doing it. “We try to do more fun performance opportunities because when you prepare for a competition, it’s a lot more focused on cleaning the dance, and it is really stressful because you are going over it and trying to make it absolutely perfect, and then you go and get it over with and it is done. We usually get first or second place, so we celebrate by doing other fun and laid back performances because we just worked so hard for those competitions,” says King.
Kaylee Bravo explains that after competitions the club tries to focus more on team bonding. Instead of practice one night they will swap it out to go grab dinner or just hangout as a team instead.
Being Part of Something Great
President Emma Kelly wants people to know how great being part of a Club Sport here at ECU really is. “It is a really good outlet and it is where I found all of my friends. It also opens up a lot of opportunities for scholarships, growth, and other clubs and club sports councils. It just opens up a whole bunch of stuff for you,” says Kelly. “For me, it’s definitely about dance, but it is so much about the friendships, too.”
Bravo tried out for the team on a whim. “I wasn’t even going to try out and all of a sudden I saw it randomly on Instagram. I was going to go home, but instead I stayed and tried out and now these are all my friends. They are just all positive influences on you.”
To be able to compete, build friendships, learn life skills, and have fun at the same time is a success in itself. Congrats to the ECU Club Dance Team for doing what they do best and being this month’s Club Sport of the Month!
