Sassy Cats Dance Team raises money at Sonic
Mackenzie Burgess | gcsunade.com- Members of the Sassy Cats Dance Team work to attract business at Sonic last Thursday night. The team got to keep 10 percent of all proceeds to help fund their trip to nationals, which is set for January.
The Georgia College Sassy Cats Dance Team hosted a spirit night event at a local fast-food eatery last week to raise money for what the group hopes is a trip to a national dance team tournament.
The Sassy Cats received 10 percent of all proceeds from Sonic, and also had buckets for people to directly donate money.
This year, nationals are in Orlando at Disney World in January. The girls will travel to Orlando the Friday before the competition begins, where they will be able to practice on the competition floor. Saturday they will compete, and the finals will be held on Sunday where ESPN will film the remaining teams.
The Sassy Cats tied for 10th place last year, but only the top nine teams dance again on Sunday.
“We made it to the semifinals, so hopefully this year we will make it to at least top nine. Top five is our goal,” junior psychology major and Sassy Cat Lindsay West said.
Performing at nationals is different than the normal atmosphere the Sassy Cat are used to.
“It’s intense,” West said. “There are so many different schools. We are Division II, so we don’t compete against Division I, but we get to see them perform and it’s just a whole different experience. It’s def initely different than performing just in front of students.”
The team has been conditioning and working with a trainer to prepare.
They also recently spent 18 hours practicing and learning their routine.
“This year we have a trainer and practice every day,” sophomore psychology major and captain of the Sassy Cats Carly Reineri said. “We are just trying really hard to be a team. I hope we can form a team structure that will stay that strong for future years.”
During halftime of the home men’s and women’s basketball games, the Sassy Cats will perform their new routine. They have eight new girls this year and are determined to perform well at finals.
“We are trying to represent athletics well,” Reineri said. “We want people to come to the basketball games and get people more involved with the school.”
Attending nationals costs a lot of money, but the Sassy Cats plan on hosting future fundraisers to help pay the way.
They are holding a spirit night every third Thursday of the month until the competition. They are also teaming up with the Zaxby’s Kids Club.
“We have to pay for a shuttle to get down there and that’s $5,000 and registration is $6,000,” senior psychology major and member of the Sassy Cats Leah Flynn said. “Our choreographer was $1,500. So it’s pretty expensive, and that is without hotel and food.”
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