Dancing is a sport to this sophomore

ANAMOSA - Imagine a person who spends countless hours a day working on stretching, routines, postures, correct facials and being told 'one last time” every time.

She is able to remain positive while wanting to break down from being scared.

She is a performer.

This sounds like an athlete playing a sport, right?

You are out there as a team, supporting each other, cheering each other on and believing in one another. Put yourself in a dancer's shoes.

There is a lot of talk that dance is not a sport, 'all you do is perform routines.”

Sports have plays, a version of a routine, for the team to know where the ball is going, who is doing what and who is running where. It takes a lot to remember all of that.

A game is a performance.

Not being able to see yourself on stage to know if you messed up. Talking to the rest of your group about makeup, hair, outfits, practices, team bondings and practices. A dance team is a family. We are all there for each other, supporting, helping out and sticking together. A good performance is like a victory, knowing you did well as a team.

Anamosa student Makenna Boots does not play sports or do any extracurricular activities. She admits she doesn't know much about dance, but enjoys watching performances. She knows how hard the team and I try to make our performances spectacular. Boots does consider dance a sport because dancers go through the same mental and physical things you would for an actual sport.

Jordan Brown, another Anamosa student, said he would consider dance a sport because dancers compete and perform against or with other teams just like a sports team with a game. He also made it clear dancers are as passionate about their routines as a basketball player is about their performance. He said if anything makes you happy, continue doing it anyway.

North Cedar dance coach Kelly Versendaal has been dancing since she was 4 and once danced in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York and in Florida. When she was 21, she started her own dance business and now runs a studio in Stanwood.

'I have been doing this dance stuff my whole damn life,” she said, noting she also considers dance a sport with the stretching, team bonding, mental and physical growth and, most importantly, the bonding that is made over time.

She has enjoyed all personalities she has seen over the years.

I have been dancing for five years. It is the only thing I do. I look forward to all my practices, performances and seeing my team. I stretch every day to keep and maintain my flexibility. I always go over our dances at home to help me remember the routine.

If you don't think dance is a sport, consideration how much work dancers put in to their every day life - just as an athlete would.