On Saturday, March 19th at Hubbard Middle School in Plainfield, New Jersey, Colonia’s Da Soul Steppaz performed their Android routine for four judges. Colonia took third place in the New Jersey State Step Association, Inc. (NJSSA) State Finals.
In order to get to first place your theme routine needs to make sense, costumes need to be on point without them coming apart, needs to be 8-10 minutes long the routine, must include music in their step and also have a loud voice to talk during their performance.
The Step Team has been around in Colonia High School since 2000. They are having tryouts April 4th to have more people participate in the team and make them a stronger team. In order to become apart of the team you must practice a step that is assigned to you and if you did really good then your apart of the team. You are given 10 days to memorize the step and usually the captain or co captain would teach you this step.
The Step Team is like a family and its members are there for one another and are open to the new members who join every year. When asked how she felt about the new members that come every year Captain Ashley Weeks responded, “I feel like they have potential and can be good as champions.”
Starting in January, the NJSSA holds competitions for step teams every other Saturday. Placing in the top three at multiple competition’s should get you in invite to the Six Flags Step Invitational on April 30th. Teams are competing for a first place trophy, $3,000 in prize money and individual award medals. The team that wins usually use the prize money for new equipment for the upcoming competitions, costumes & team clothing and carry on.
Weeks feels proud that the team has won the championships two years in a row and when it comes to winning it again this year, she said, “They are going to practice their butts off.” They are currently practicing for states again if the they win it would make them three times in a row champions. The team is excited and working really hard to win states this year and making Colonia proud!
The team’s motto is “We win as a team, we lose as a team. Dr. Ferris, the coach of Colonia Soul Steppaz, plans to continue coaching “as long as I’m able to do it.” Coach Ferris feels that coaching the Step Team is one of the best things he gets to do at Colonia. What they do to improve after a loss, is to make sure everyone is at practice.
Weeks noted the following about being captain by responding, “It’s stressful but worth it when we win first place.” When people don’t come to practice it irritates her. Step Team members would love more support from the students at Colonia High so please check out their next competition and cheer them on.
Weeks favorite step is called Remi and Aliyah. They keep the same steps from the past and invent new ones every year. The same routine is used for a year then it changes after. The Step Team practices Monday through Friday by running 10-15 laps then right away, then they start practicing there step routines and giving new ideas to add in the routines. During their routine, they need to memorize words so we understand what the routine is about and usually routines need to be as long as 8-10 minutes long. They practice at each others houses after school or even during the weekend because they are so committed to their team. This year step team is working on a tie breaking step which is when two teams are tied they need to duel against each other for the trophy the first place trophy. Step Team takes the practice serious but they also have their fun times when it is deserved.
