The world of college dance is vast and wide in variety, there are hundreds of college dance teams just in the United States alone. College dancers serve to provide entertainment and school spirit at sporting events and appearances around their campus. Typically, you can recognize a college dance team by their flashy makeup, big hair, and lots of sparkle.

Pictured: Louisiana State University Tiger Girls dance team

What many people do not see is all of the hard work that these dancers put into their routines, gameday material, and appearance. Most college dancers have trained for many years of their life in multiple styles of dance to be on a college team. College dance teams require vigorous training and being able to have a quick memory and high levels of athleticism. A typical week of a college dancer could include workouts with a trainer, multiple team practices, games, and multiple appearances in the community on top of school work and possibly a job.

Other than pumping up the crowd and providing entertainment on gameday, a college dance team’s main goal is doing well at the national championships each year. Teams can choose between participating in National Dance Association (NDA) nationals or Universal Dance Association (UDA) nationals. Each company provides a national championship experience for college teams, but they occur at different dates and different places. UDA tends to occur in Disney World on February 1-3, while NDA occurs at the Daytona Beach bandshell in Florida on April 3-7.

Pictured (Left to Right): UDA pom and jazz double national champions Ohio State, NDA hip hop and team performance double national champions Louisville Ladybirds, NDA pom and jazz double national champions Texas Tech.

The work put in for a nationals routine is incredibly tough, teams typically learn their routines months before nationals so they have time to perfect them before competition. The ultimate goal at nationals is, of course, to win and receive a big trophy and rings to commemorate accomplishing a huge goal with your team.

Pictured: Louisville Ladybirds nationals rings

A lot more goes in to college dance than people see, most fans who watch the team all year never get to see the team’s true talents that they put on the nationals floor each year. Next time you see your favorite college team’s dance team, consider all of the blood, sweat, and tears they put in to putting on a show for the fans.