Imagine this: you’re walking onto the field and stepping to the beat of the whistle. Hundreds of eyes are watching you, cheering and screaming. All that awaits is the music, and then everyone will be watching your newest performance, one you learned in less than two weeks. The palms of your hands are sweating and you can’t remember if you will recall all the last minute changes.

These are the struggles our PB Poms captains, along with their team, have to go through during their year round season. They participate in the fall athletics with performances at all the home football games and during basketball halftimes here at PB in the winter season. Senior Moisha Sajus, a four year veteran, is one of the captains for the PB Poms, squad alongside their co-captain, Bella Moore. For years these young ladies have learned dozens of routines and have gone through countless competitions.

The most common question that Moisha hears is, “What is a pom?” Moisha replies, “A Pom is an individual who just loves to dance. They are very spirited and love to bring the community together to participate in activities.”

The second most asked question a PB Pomie gets asked is “What makes poms different from cheer?” “A Pom dances to current and popular music with technical aspects including jazz, hiphop and ballet,” Sajus explains.

Sajus believes “the PB community expects us to have good performances to hype up the crowd and to provide entertainment.”

Not everyone knows the amount of effort that goes into a pom routine. Being a part of poms is apparently not all glitter and happiness. As the team works hard to put forth their best performance each week, there is a lot of sweat and tears shed in the process. Going through a seven minute routine by the end of their season seems to be the challenge to overcome.
There are, of course, pros and cons for pretty much any sport, and Poms is no different. “The pros of being a part of the poms team are having the ability to just be called a Pantherette, to dance and to make new friendships. The cons are being in pain after practice. When you are not feeling good you have to deal with whatever you are going through and put on a happy face.

Another big con is the stress during competition season.”
Poms does not carry the same name in college as it does in high school. In college, poms is called dance team. With the change of name also comes a change in the nature of what the team does. The bar is set higher at the next level. High school uses more basic technique, and the routines are structured with motions. College level dance teams require a higher level of dance abilities and include more fluid motions.

As for whether she’d like to take her talents to the next level, Sajus states, “If I stay home for college, I plan to try out for the Baltimore Ravens dance team when I am 18. If I get into A&T, I will join their dance team, the Majorettes. My last option is if I go away to another school, I will keep taking dance classes.”