All-Male Drill Team
Every Monday night, a group of Ames High males gather in the gym. They enter a storage room and emerge with ancient weapons. But this is not a drug deal, an assassination, or a celebration of alternate lifestyles. If they were an animal, they would be a raccoon. If they were a can of soup, they would be beefy minestrone. They have dances, but they call them drills. Besides their remarkable good looks, these men share one thing in common: they are the members of the Ames High’s elusive All-Male drill team. They perform at winter sports, compete in regional and state drill team competitions, and hold a recital in the spring.
“The theme [this year] is “Kung Fu Fighting;” it’s full of fun tricks and work with props. The whole routine is cool!” drill team coach Sarah Buss said.
The namesake routine features air-punches, air-kicks, air-crouching, air-jumping around, and real “nunchaku.”
“We prefer to call them by their proper name,” said senior Cody Brown.
Last year, the All-Male drill team won second place in the state drill championships.
“My favorite part of drill team is State. Standing in front of thousands of people judging you with every move. The pressure builds, but as soon as the deep bass and the loud melodies burst through the speakers, everything seems to fade away. For those two minutes, there’s nothing but you and the music, synced in perfect harmony,” Brown said. “We fought our hardest, but in the end, we couldn’t pull through. Second place isn’t much of an honor out of three teams.”
Though it was a disappointing and crushing defeat for many, Coach Buss considers it a prime opportunity for improvement and remains positive about competition this year.
“I expect this year’s team to do very well. They are motivated and they work hard,” she said.
Members of the drill team are not swayed either.
“We are coming back to steal the crown this year with an furious hunger for victory. I can’t contain my anger; I’m like a raging bull. A dancing, raging bull,” senior Sam Ennis said.
But State is months away, and the team has not even received their uniforms.
“One of our themes is boy scouts, so I’m fairly certain that great things can be expected [of the uniforms]. My favorite uniform was from my sophomore year when we had these awesome orange rip-off pants. Ripping them off was honestly about the most fun thing I’ve ever done. I could rip them off and button them up again all day,” said Ennis. “We’re supposed to get kung fu attire and I hope we can rip off the sleeves. Sadly, we don’t get tights. They would only look good on Sam Ennis anyway,” junior Marcus Saddler said.
When all-male drill team is not scheming vengence or tearing off their clothing, they like to dance. They are best known for performing during half-time at Ames High basketball games, and enjoy a small but enthusiastic student following.
“I go to the basketball games to see them,” senior Katrina Henderson said. “I tape everything they do. They’re amazing!”
“All-male is legit,” junior Hannah Short agrees.
“Our flavor is so bold,” said Brown, “No one can resist.”
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