SAA Tiger Girls “Roar” at Nationals

This month, the SAA Tiger Girls had the chance to travel to Orlando to compete in the NDA Dance High School Championships in Orlando, Fl. After putting in hours of practice every day, the Tiger Girls returned, scoring third in the Nation in Large Varsity Pom, and seventh in the nation for the large varsity game day finalists. 

Maya Pinglay (‘23), a freshman at SAA, said she has loved being on Tiger Girls this year. “It’s so great to be part of an organization that wants to see you grow and improve. As a freshman, I've made so many new friends with this team, and I am so happy that I joined this year.” Being able to connect with others that have the same interests as you is an incredible experience not everyone can experience.

Evan Ecklund (‘22), a sophomore, enjoys multiple aspects of this amazing team. “Not only did I love watching the Tiger Girls, I loved seeing how the entire community was so encouraging towards us. I just feel so blessed to be a part of this supportive and hardworking dance community everyday!”

In order to go to nationals, Tiger Girls must audition to get into a routine called “game day” at the beginning of the year. This performance consists of some dances TG perform at school events, such as the Strake Jesuit Fight song, a sideline routine, and a hip hop halftime performance. 
The Tiger Girls also competed in Large Varsity Pom. However, to compete in this, they must audition to get onto Tiger Girls Elite, a select varsity group, which has additional practices and performances outside of regular TG practice and gameday. Taylor Tran (‘22), a sophmore TG elite member, competed in this division. As they performed this dance at the sendoff in the gym the day before getting on the plane, Taylor said, “We have been practicing this routine since August and I cannot wait to do it on the NDA Nationals stage.” 

After putting in hours and hours of work, the girls performed spectacularly this year at Nationals. When called on stage for the awards ceremony, we hold hands to try and comfort each other. No matter what score we get, we will always know that we laid out our best on that stage and only hope that the judges see that. Game day, a new category the girls competed in, got seventh and large varsity pom scored the highest they ever have in Tiger Girl history! I am so incredibly proud of the team that I can be a part of and I will always cheer my teammates on in whatever they do.