Drill Team Competition 2006

OREM — Morgan Smith spent the summer trying to interpret her strange but memorable dreams.

"I actually started having these crazy dreams last summer," said one of the coaches of the Bingham High drill team. "I thought, 'I need to write these down.' "

She did just that, and her dreams became the basis for the Miners' winning novelty dance in the 5A state drill team competition this past weekend. The win helped the Miners win their third overall state title at the competition held at Utah Valley State College's McKay Center.

"We had seen Cirque du Soleil when we went to nationals in Florida, and we'd always wanted to do something like that," Smith said. "We wanted to make it ours."

Taking an idea and making it memorable and unique are two key aspects to creating a successful novelty dance in the drill team competition. There are three categories:dance, military and, this season, novelty.

Bingham won the military competition, while Brighton took second. The Bengals won the dance competition, with the Miners finishing second. Novelty was the last category the teams competed in, and the Miners managed to tie for first place with Hillcrest High in that category, clinching the 5A overall title.

"Dance is just one of those things," said Smith of the drill team, "for me, and for a lot of my girls, it's what gives you energy and keeps you going in school."

It is a demanding, expensive and emotionally draining sport. That's right — sport.

"Anyone who doesn't think it's a sport should come spend a week of practices with us," said Kim Monkres, the coach of 4A state champion Bonneville's drill team. "I guarantee, they'll think about it differently. These girls are amazing athletes.

They're in excellent condition, and they practice sometimes more than 30 hours per week. These girls are working their tails off."

And these dancers aren't just interested in entertaining, they're competitors.

The Utah High School Activities Association defines drill team as a sport because there is a state competition. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, these girls consider themselves athletes — with rhythm.

The drill team competition is unlike anything else. There are no numbers, no rosters, very few individual accolades. The key in performing on a drill team is to get an audience to focus on the overall effect.