Grace Young and Carter Hansell going over the eight-foot wall. Photo Credits: Alina Ramey, Watauga Publishing
Alina Ramey, Staff Member of The Watauga Powderhorn
The Raider Team is back at Watauga High School, welcoming both new and returning members, including sophomores Grace Young and Carter Hansell. This year marks their second year in Raider, a competitive JROTC club led by Cadet Captain Madison Caparolie and Cadet Second Lieutenant Sean Lackey. Raider is a high-impact, active club which focuses on self-improvement through physical activity. Every member is expected to demonstrate strong teamwork and communication skills during competitions. The team meets every Monday through Thursday until their first competition on October 5, where they practice a multitude of skills in hopes of achieving the best times and performance at competitions.
“Raider is one of our three JROTC teams,” said Young. “We work towards multiple competitions throughout the year in which we compete in 5 events. The events start with a 5k run, there is a rope bridge, an obstacle course, a stretcher carry, and a Humvee pull.”
Both Hansell and Young are integral to the team, just as every member is at Raider. Teamwork is essential, and it is crucial for participants to be able to work well with others.
“Anybody can join. But, you wouldn’t go to a competition if you’re really unfit,” Hansell said. “If you’re doing really really well, they’ll choose you for the competition team.”
While the Raider team accepts anyone actively involved in JROTC, Raiders will not put up with any lack of effort. Cadets are encouraged to put in the necessary work outside of meetings to help the team reach its full potential.
“If a team member feels like they need to train more in a specific area, then we all take our time to train with what we need to," said Young. “Sometimes, we’ll have morning practices nearing a competition so going to as many of those as you can is important.”
While there are great times to be had in Raider, there have also been tough moments for the team. But no matter what, they are determined to overcome these obstacles. Every time they face a struggle or they don’t perform well in a competition, they take that experience and learn from it, practicing what they need to improve and coming back stronger every time.
“There have been some difficult times; we’ve had some competitions that were really bad,” said Hansell. “One that was really bad, we placed poorly and we weren’t working together very well. But, we fixed that.”
Raider is all about adapting, collaborating, and growth through learning. They are constantly striving to find ways to improve, both individually and as a team.
“Last year, during our second competition, we had a difficult day and weren’t placing well, several things were going wrong within the competition. We were getting a bit discouraged,” said Young. “But, luckily, our team was able to take that competition and come together and work super hard for the next competition and at that competition, we won first in every single event.”
Cadets appreciate that each day with the Raider team presents a variety of challenges, whether through training or competition.
“One of my favorite parts about the team is how every practice, it feels like we’re doing something new,” Young said. “Because there’s so many events that we’re training towards, I love getting to do such a variety of things.”
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