Mallory Habich leads her team of young Pacers. Photo Credits: Peyton Ash.
The Watauga High School Pacers successfully hosted the annual Pacer Clinic from October 9 to October 12. This clinic was all about teaching the young dancers different choreographed dances and providing a fun time with the older team.
The clinic was available to all grades throughout the K-8 Watauga Schools who came to the high school to learn their group’s specific dance.
“The Pacer clinic is open to all Watauga students in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade,” said Laura Carson, the Pacers’ head coach. “Parents can pre-register their student online or on the first day of the clinic. We also send fliers to all the K-8 schools in the county and advertise through social media.”
The clinic was not a first-time event, however. The team takes pride in their ability to teach the younger grades how to be a future Pacer and how to enjoy the sport of dance.
“The Pacers have held clinics for more than 20 years, so when I took over as the coach in 2010, we continued with them,” said Carson. “The Pacers love teaching the younger students the dances and performing with them.”
Aside from teaching dancers, the clinic serves as a fundraiser for the Pacers team. The team will use the funds to get new uniforms.
“The clinic is a fundraiser to help support our team,” Carson said. “We are saving funds for new uniforms.”
Because of a large turnout, the Pacers saw a growing amount of interest in the program. The Junior Varsity Football game, where the Pacers hosted their clinic-ending show, had the largest audience that the Pacers have seen in the clinic’s history.
“We had over 72 participants in our clinic this Fall. It was one of the largest we've ever had,” said Carson. “It was a great success!”
The young Pacers were eager to learn and looked up the older girls. Pacer Carly Watson, junior, enjoyed the grades she had selected.
“I loved my group! I had [grades] 3 through 5,” said Watson. “They were super fun, super chatty, and learned their dance really quickly.”
Because of the current abundance of cheerleaders at Watauga compared to Pacers, the Pacers are hoping that the clinic will drive future grades to join the team when they are old enough.
“I think, now, in this time, there are a lot fewer dancers interested [in Pacers],” said Watson. “Currently, there are about 30 cheerleaders and 16 Pacers, so we are really hoping that these girls will come back and join us later on when they get old enough.”
The Pacers are looking forward to their winter clinic and to continuing the community-oriented tradition.
“It's really nice to watch the girls come out of their comfort zones and learn from girls that they look up to. Not from teachers, or parents, but from their peers,” said Watson.
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