As Coach Holland entered the gym for her second period class, she saw her dance team excited to learn new moves. These ladies work to perfect their routines. Having a team full of perfectionists had its challenges.

“It made me want to do the routine as well as everyone else,” Jaqueline Figueroa, 9th, said. “It was almost like a challenge except we all won once we killed it on the field.”

Chaprelle Wanton, a second-year Raiderette, saw both good and bad in having a team of perfectionists.

“It could be less stressful but stressful at the same time,” Chaprelle said.

Coach Holland knows about the stress involved in being a dancer. In 7th grade, she tried out for the team and did not make the cut.

“I was heartbroken,’’ Coach Holland said. “I had to suck it up and be in the pep club my 8th grade year just to try out for the dance team again. It wasn’t fun, not many two-year pep clubbers. But I stuck it out and made it my 8th grade year and every year following that, even at the college level at Arkansas Tech in Russellville.”

Coach Holland enjoyed coaching the Raiderettes.

“One of my favorite things is seeing how close we get as a team each year — sometimes TOO close!” Coach Holland said.

Not only were these girls teammates, but they were family as well.

“My favorite thing was being together with the whole team together and all of us being so close,” Lorena Martinez, 8th, said. “The team was like my second family; sometimes I couldn’t stand them.”

These girls grew lots of love for each other as a team.

“My favorite thing was having fun with everyone and knowing I could always rely on the team for anything,” Joleen Grober, 9th, said. “Also, I liked just being able to dance with people I love.”