Those flag dancers that perform with the Marching Band at football games and compete against other schools?  They’re the NPHS Color Guard.

Ava Mormile, a junior at NPHS and section leader of the Color Guard described the community and camaraderie of the group: “A lot of being in the marching band is that everybody is a leader and that everybody helps each other. Really being a leader is just a title, I would say because anybody can help anybody else at any time.”

Co-captain senior Carmen Houtsma agrees that working together is the way the Color Guard operates:  “Well usually as captain I have to help some other freshmen and stuff but usually come a little bit early to practice and we like to take out the flag bags from the closet and we lay them outside. I help any freshmen that come early, like what they want to go over.  Usually I’m helping like the freshmen with their fly work and that type of stuff.”

Color Guard is also not something that is just for pure entertainment during the football games halftime. It is also involved in competitions with other schools.

For Houtsma these are both good times: “I like competitions, but also I like performing at the football games.  We also get to meet other bands and watch other performances  I like to see what everybody else is doing. So it’s also a lot of fun.”

These competitions can have a big impact on the overall development of a member of the Guard.

Mormile said that after all her experience she would remind her 9th grade self: “that competitions really aren’t that scary and just try our best and also I would tell us my freshman self, it’s okay if you drop in or like messed up like I thought like, any single like mistake would like be like points off or something. But you get points for recovery even if you were to drop your weapon or drop your flag, like as long as you pick it up and keep going like it’s not the end of the world. So  just know that it’ll all work out. It may seem scary and intimidating at first, but just trust the process”

Jay Davis has been directing the NPHS Color Guard for 9 years, since 2013. Like many of the members, he has been involved in Color Guard in various capacities for years.

His advice to the members of the Color Guard is: “Just to keep calm, relaxed and to work hard.  I always try to tell them just do what you do at practice, be relaxed and you know everything will happen as it’s supposed to happen.”