Sophomore Audrey Sturwold is a member of the Red Raiders Dance Team, as well as a student at Huntley High School. There are many life lessons dance teaches, such as overcoming challenges and handling nerves that come with performing. 

“I would say the nerves are more of just seeing the amount of people in the stands and feeling that pressure to make sure you can do the best you possibly can on the routine,” Sturwold said. 

Sturwold explained that as time goes on, her nerves get better because at the end it is all worth it. The team is all family and no matter what happens they will get through it together. 

As Sturwold performs in front of the entire Raider Nation and fans, it does not get easier. There are positives and negatives that come with participating. 

“In the end, when you finally go out to perform something you’ve been working on for so long, it’s definitely rewarding.” 

Sturwold believes that being an athlete at Huntley teaches you how to deal with others in a positive and healthy way, and how to maintain a sense of balance in your life. 

Sturwold said that being on the dance team, you are not all just teammates, but also a family. Sturwold and the dance team spend a lot of time together: during practice, team bonding, or hanging out. Individuals on the team have their own relationships and consist of many different personalities, but they all come together as one. 

Sturwold’s team is family to her. Each day, Sturwold goes to practice, she knows she can count on her teammates to make her laugh. They share many laughs and memories with each other.  

“Before we perform, we all huddle together and give each other words of encouragement to each other,” Sturwold said. “Then we ran out onto the field feeling confident.”  

Sturwold thinks juggling dance with personal life can definitely get to be a lot, especially when they have longer practices. 

Between juggling a sport and academics,  difficulties can arise. Sturwold always puts in 100% effort, she thinks it is important to not only give 110% at practice but also outside of practice. It is also difficult balancing school and dance because education is so important to all of them on the team. Education is important to them all because in order to be on a sports team you have to have exceptionally good grades. 

“A negative side to the sport is you put in so much time into the sport and it can get very tiring,” Sturwold said.