When most people watch a Poms routine, they don’t realize how much effort is required to make a performance look effortless. It’s easy to get caught up in their astonishing performances. Pom’s team members work tirelessly to clean a routine and make it halftime-ready. Behind the scenes, Poms is so much more than a seemingly easy performance. Hours of practice and team bonding go into making a perfect routine. Members are expected to balance both their academic life and personal life. In addition to that, they need to stay committed to the team. Upon interviewing a few members, I got to hear some key aspects about being on Poms that the average person wouldn’t know.
From an audience’s perspective, you wouldn’t see that Poms is a demanding sport that requires profound dedication and patience. Senior team member, Lauryn Lemme, states that “Most people [don’t] know that it requires a lot of individual practice outside of our designated team practices to get new routines clean and memorized every week.” Balancing school and poms would be a hassle to begin with; adding individual practice time to the mix is enough to make the average person exhausted. It’s super impressive how the girls on Poms are able to manage their time. Team member, Marlee Trame, adds that “[Poms] challenges me a lot mentally and encourages me to push myself to always improve.” Although Poms is a physically and mentally demanding sport, it emboldens the team members to work hard and push their bodies in positive ways. It’s beneficial to constantly strive to improve.
Poms fosters a strong sense of friendship and bond between its members. Team member Marlee Trame explains, “It’s like a sisterhood, I don’t know what I would do without them.” Spending those long hours at practice strengthens relationships with the other girls on the team. It’s no surprise they see each other as a part of a “sisterhood”. In addition to that, Senior, Lauryn Lemme says, “My favorite part of being on poms is the memories and friendships I’ve gained from it. My teammates are some of my closest friends,” Which supports the idea that the Poms members all have a strong bond. Lemme also adds that, “We spend so much time together that it would be hard not to [get along].”
In conclusion, Poms is a sport that requires dedication, but the team members argue that all the demanding work makes it worthwhile. Between the long practices and having to balance personal and educational tasks, Poms leads to close friendships. Marlee Trame says, “It just feels so good dancing under the lights, especially with your friends.” Proving their hard work pays off.
