The Riverside Brookfield High School competitive poms team has once again qualified for state, which will take place on February 15 in Springfield, IL. State has been a special event for the poms team over the past few years, as this will be their third year in a row attending. They placed eighth in 2023, third in 2024, and are hoping to keep moving forward in the standings in 2025.
The competitions that RB Poms attend are run by three different statewide associations: the Illinois Dance Team Association (IDTA), the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), and the Universal Dance Association (UDA). In order to qualify for state, you must obtain a score of 80 or higher at a regional competition. Once a team has qualified, they take the feedback from the judges and work on every individual critique with the hope of making their routine stronger.
“It’s a lot of hard work and commitment. There’s a lot of time and effort put into it, and [there’s] also the stress factor. You just want to be able to do your best at the competition that you have to qualify for to get your score as high as possible,” junior co-captain Aubrey Agne said.
Sophomore Samantha Bolt has been on the Poms team for 2 years now and hopes to continue in future years. When it comes to state, this will be her second year attending.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to have. It’s really fun as a team [since] you go and experience it together,” Bolt said.
Poms has two co-captains, Agne and senior Sofia Lee. Their responsibilities consist of bringing the team together, always having a positive attitude, and being there for the coach when needed. Their simple love for dance has gotten them to a place where they can lead and guide their teammates.
“I’ve always loved dance, and I’ve always been a dancer, so I kind of knew that once I was in high school I wanted to do poms,” Agne said.
Varsity poms head coach Tia Sherman has been coaching at RB for two years and prior to that coached at her previous high school. Like most involved in poms, she grew up being a dancer and danced in college. Poms has a long, ten-month season with two teams, junior varsity and varsity.
“We have a summer season where we run a youth camp, go to the Fourth of July parade, and go to an overnight camp, where we learn different routines and do team bonding,” Sherman said.
Following their summer season in the fall, they participate in a halftime show and sidelines during all home football games. Moving into the winter season, they perform at both boys and girls home basketball games and compete in competitions on the weekends. Poms winter competitions consist of several teams. They perform one to two routines, which can be a variety of different styles including jazz, pom, hip hop, and lyrical routines.
“You get one chance to take the floor and show the judges your routine. There’s usually about three to four judges. They have a judging rubric, and you get your score sheets, and you see where you place,” Sherman said.
Poms is always looking for new individuals who love to dance, as they have a welcoming community and family feeling.
“It’s awesome, the girls are wonderful. I love coaching all the girls and they make my job really easy because they’re so wonderful,” Sherman said.
