Tossing flags in the air and waving them around like nobody’s business may seem like a pretty simple task. However, cold hard metal clashing into skin can leave bruises, a mistaken grab can dislocate a finger, and a rogue spinning rifle can cause a concussion.

“There will be some things you can’t do, and there will be some things you can do, I expected that…” Director of Westwood’s Winter Guard Mr. Josie said.

The first practice for winter guard began at 4:30 on Nov. 9, excited potential guard members show up early in the cafetorium for the start of the session.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing? Because I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing!” One junior girl frantically tells another, as she rushes to pick up her dropped flag. Students, who have had no prior practice with guard attempt to watch and learn from the experienced guard members, but to no avail, which is apparent from the mismatched waving of the silk on the flag.

Some inexperienced members struggled, and even those with outstanding talent had a hard time with the varsity routine, “For the first few I felt very uncomfortable it was really fast but as I got to learn flag I felt really good about it.” remarked Elizabeth Widner ‘19 who managed to make the varsity team this year, surprising even herself with her unknown potential.

The first hour and a half is spent learning the Junior Varsity winter guard routine, while the last hour is spent working on the varsity tryout piece. Both are significantly challenging, and most of the people who attended practice hoped to make varsity. Julia Bowers ‘19 said that it’s important to aim high, “because that’s how you’re gonna get to that higher level and perform with the higher group” and therefore stayed along with the other athletes trying out, until the varsity routine was complete. The routine started out as a hot mess with flags flying all over the ground, and bruised hands gripping the cold metal, but as the evening wore on, it was apparent that a significant shift was taking place, the athletes were getting a lot better, and quickly too. Each run through contained one less dropped flag, each trial, the flags flew with more synchronization.

The students who finished the practice session were given flags of their own to use at home and work on the routine on their own time. Many first year guard members looked shocked when they were told to bring the flag home. It’s a big instrument, that comes with great responsibility, It may be quite hard to lose a five foot flag, but an accidental tear in the silk is not an uncommon occurrence that nobody wants to be accountable for. Needless to say however, each member grabbed their own unique flag with a newfound respect for the object that stemmed from just a few hours of work.

The next day began the dancing section of the tryout piece. 35 future guard members squished inside the small dance studio and settled into the excessively warm room which had to be aired out with an open door and fan. “Be sassy, this dance needs to be angry… dance like I just called all of you stupid,” joked Mr. Josie as he began teaching the choreography for the second section of the tryout piece. There were some athletes who grasped the choreography with ease, and simply executed the dance steps one after another.  “I think dance was my strongest area because I’m a dancer.” Hallie Klein ‘19 was one of the few who grasped the choreography quickly, ”I felt great, it was good.” However some others struggled, and found it difficult to dance smoothly, and gracefully.

As with the flag section, goofy footing, and unbalanced movements, slowly gave way to graceful and purposeful steps that pleased the eye. Over the course of the evening, the guard as a whole got noticeably better, and learned a completely new dance over the span of just three hours. Each person was guaranteed to be dripping with sweat, but everyone was also guaranteed to learn something new.

Winter guard’s actual tryouts took place on Nov. 20, when the future members of the guard put what they learned during practice to the test, and presented their final full routine for Director Mr. Josie, and Mr. Sullivan, the judge.