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Girls Step It Up

KATHY MOORE/STAFF

Emily Parsons, captain of the Brandon High School dance squad, inspects members of the squad before taking to the field for the first football game of the season.

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By LIZ BLEAU, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2007

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BRANDON - It's the first game of the high school football season, and for the 22 girls in the Brandon High School Dance Squad, it's opening night.

The squad's windowless dressing room under the stadium bleachers echoes of prom night preparations, as girls check one another's hair, the coach yells she doesn't want to see any bra straps and there's a push at the mirror to check makeup and lipstick.

The girls will go through this routine twice this evening; once for the pregame show in their velour jumpsuits with rhinestone trim on the bodice and again at halftime when they will change into their new dance costumes - psychedelic bright pink and purple '70s dresses and wide headbands.

'Shake 'em out girls,' Coach Brooke Kiner shouts as the girls pass out their pompons.

'Who is next in line?' she asks as the girls line up to go onto the field, their bodies erect and their hands clasped behind them, resting their pompons on their lower backs.

The dance squad has a strong tradition at the school, where the football field and the road leading up to it are named for former dance squad coach Pat Fussell, who died suddenly in 2001 after 37 years with the squad, succeeding her mother, Elizabeth.

Kiner is new to Brandon High, taking over this year from Christine Manchese, who coached for six years. Kiner has a background in dance and choreography and has taught dance. When school opened last month, Kiner had already spent a week with the squad at dance camp, where they worked out routines for the start of the season.

The girls have been busy for weeks, selling advertising for the high school football programs, a source of revenue for the squad's expenses.

Last year, parents and friends formed a booster club to help with expenses, which run about $15,000 to $16,000 a year.

Johnnie Hyde, mother of squad member Nicole, 16, said a lot of people don't realize that the dance squad is separate from the band and must pay its own way.

The squad shares a bus with the band getting to football games, but it must pay for costumes and fees to enter competitions that come after football season.

The girls rehearse four days a week in preparation for Friday night games.

It's a big commitment of time and energy, but the payoffs are big, according to squad members and their parents.

'The squad is really a close family,' said Jessica Fogarty, 16, co-captain and in her third year with the team. 'We learn respect for time management, and we gain maturity. We have to be on time; if we're not, we have to run laps.'

Team members must meet academic and conduct standards each week to perform.

Johnnie Hyde said the dance squad experience gives the girls 'an opportunity to understand differences, which helps them to conform and get along.'

Debbie Parsons, mother of squad captain Emily Parsons, said her daughter, a senior, almost didn't try out.

'This has been the best thing she ever did,' her mother said. 'They are still teenagers, but they realize they have to be role models.'

Jan Fogarty, president of the booster club, said she hopes some of the squad's graduates will join to help support the girls. She would like to get enough of the former members to stage an alumni performance.

Anyone interested in becoming a booster or donating to the club can contact Fogarty at rfogarty2@verizon.net.

For Kiner, dance is a passion.

'I love taking girls who have not been into dance and molding them into good dancers and good people,' she said. 'I hope to bring a new perspective. I always had such good experiences growing up with dance.'

Gayla Constant, mother of Christina Fradley, 15, in her second year with the squad, sees that inspiration from the coach.

She also sees her daughter changing in good ways because of her team experience.

'She is a lot more outgoing, and it gives her confidence, to perform and elsewhere. And of course, it's good exercise,' she said. 'I am very happy with what I see it has done for her.'

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.

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