Posted on 03/29/2018
After a comeback season, the FHHS Golden Girls were announced as the Overall Champions at the 2018 Missouri Dance Team Association State Competition. The team grew together to develop an outstanding work ethic to defend their title. While overcoming challenges early in the season, the team pulled together and came out on top, once again.
The season started off rockier that the team wanted. After finishing low in their first two competitions, Coach Courtney Kassabaum and the members of the team knew that the routines needed to be updated. “Our season did not start out how we expected. We did not place as we had hoped in our local competitions and knew that we needed to make changes to our dances in order to get the results we hoped for,” said Kassabaum.
With a good portion of the jazz and hip-hop routines altered, the girls had to work hard to ensure that every turn, spin, and step was in sync and ready for the next competition. “After those changes were made, the dances completely changed and the girls had to work harder than ever,” said Kassabaum.
“We fought for each other and worked hard for each other, not just our own personal benefits,” said Madison Osborne, senior at FHHS and a captain of the team. “We have learned how to push ourselves through the tough times – mentally and physically.”
Struggling with the challenges of overcoming prejudices early in the season, the team had to pull themselves out of a low point and give everything during every performance. To help keep morale high, the dancers came up with mottos to motivate and support them through the rough patches. They challenged themselves that “No Matter What” they would give everything they could on the dance floor. “We learned the real meaning of ‘No Matter What’ and made sure we put our hearts and 100 percent into everything we did,” said Osborne.
“They new that going into state, becoming back-to-back champions was not going to be easy. They wanted to show everyone that they could do it; and that’s exactly what they did,” said Kassabaum. At the state level, the Golden Girls took first place for their Lyrical Jazz and Hip-Hop performances, on top of Overall State Champion. This was their sixth State title in the past nine years.
In addition to the State title, the girls performed at several other competitions. At the Lindbergh Dance Invitational, they won second for Lyrical Jazz, and third for Hip-Hop. At the Chicagoland Dance Festival, they received third for Jazz and Hip-Hop performances. At the UDA National Dance Team Championships, they placed fourth in the nation for their Hip-Hop routine, and eleventh in the nation for Jazz.
Congratulations to the Golden Girls, and keep up the hard work!