After preparing for almost a full year, the Mt. SAC dance team will be traveling to Daytona, Florida to participate in the National Dance Alliance College Nationals competition from April 11-13.

Since 1976, the NDA Nationals competitions have extended both high school and college invites to compete against institutions across the country.

To compete at an NDA National Championship, teams must have qualified at an NDA Summer or Fall Camp, Regional or Classic competition or by video submission.

SAC will be competing on Thursday in the jazz junior college competition and on Friday in the hip-hop junior college competition.

Last year, SAC finished in third place for open jazz and fifth place for open hip-hop. They’ve dedicated extensive effort thus far and aim to secure additional accolades this year.

The 2023-2024 season started July of last year, and only a few months later, the team dove right into choreographing and perfecting their routines for this big competition.

Interim head coach Austin Hernandez, who started as a Volunteer Dance Team Coach at SAC, understands the importance of early preparation and wanted to get ready for another run at Nationals.

“We usually try to start either October or November so that we have plenty of time,” Hernandez said.

The team likes to make sure that they are ready by the time April rolls around so that they aren’t stressed about the choreography and routines to the point where performing them becomes natural and fluid.

Hernandez wants to change the narrative that the dance team is more than just performers on the sidelines of sports games but gifted and talented athletes. “They think that’s all we do – that we’re only cheerleaders,” he said. “When we tell people that actually compete at a college level and we go to Florida, they’re kind of shocked.”

At other schools, dance is often not recognized as a college sport, but the team is grateful that Mt. SAC treats them the same as any other athletic team.

For the first time, the team held a send-off performance on April 7, in the main gymnasium to showcase the routines they will be performing at nationals.

“We always support our other teams, so I think it is nice that this is just for us and other people are supporting,” Hernandez said.

This was not only an opportunity to practice performing in front of a crowd, but a way to finish up the fundraising required to pay for the competition expenses. Throughout the year, the team has raised over $5,000 with eTeam fundraising along with selling football programs at games.

For students interested, there will be a recruiting clinic on April 20 which will help potential team members get ready for tryouts, which will be held May 11. The NDA College Nationals competition can be found live streamed by Varsity TV’s website.