What Happens After You Make the Team?

Let me be honest with you about something.

When I made my college dance team, I thought I had arrived. Auditions were done, I had survived the stress, and I finally had that spot I’d been working toward for years. I remember thinking, okay, the hard part is over.

I was wrong.

And then I spent five years on the other side of it, coaching at the D1 level, watching new dancers walk in with that same look on their face. That “I made it” look. And I’d think, they have no idea how much they’re about to grow.

I don’t say that to scare you. I say it because I wish someone had said it to me.

The Pace Is Nothing Like You’re Expecting

I don’t care how competitive your studio was or how serious your high school program was. College is a different animal.

The practices are fast paced. The expectations are higher. And for the first time, you play a real role in carrying the responsibility of the program alongside your coaches.

You’re not just learning choreography anymore. You’re learning how to be a functioning piece of a program that serves athletics, game day environments, campus events, community appearances, nationals preparation, sometimes all in the same week.

A lot of dancers describe the first few weeks like drinking from a fire hose. That’s exactly what it is. And it’s completely normal to feel like you’re drowning a little. I felt it. Most of the veterans on your team felt it once too, even if they won’t admit it now.

No One Is Micromanaging You Anymore And That’s a Good Thing

This is one of the biggest shifts, and honestly, one of the most empowering ones.

In college, no one is standing over you making sure everything gets done. Your coaches aren’t checking that you finished your homework. Your professors aren’t reminding you about practice. Your parents aren’t there to keep you on a schedule.

And that’s not because people don’t care, it’s because you’re trusted to handle it.

College programs are built on the expectation that you can manage your time, communicate when you need help, and show up prepared. It’s less about being told what to do, and more about learning how to take ownership of everything on your plate.

That might feel like a big shift at first. But it’s also where so much growth happens.

The dancers who thrive aren’t the ones who have it all perfectly figured out, they’re the ones who start building systems that work for them. Planning ahead. Staying organized. Asking questions early instead of waiting until they’re overwhelmed.

You don’t have to be perfect. But you do have to be responsible for yourself in a new way.

And once you settle into that, it becomes one of the most valuable skills you take with you long after dance.

Sidelines Are the Tip of the Iceberg

Here’s the thing nobody really tells you before you get there: game day is a production. And sidelines? That’s just one small piece of it.

I’ve seen new team members show up thinking they’d learn a few cheers and stand on the sideline smiling for the crowd. And then week one of camp hits and they start to crash out with the immense amount of material wondering what they got themselves into.

What you actually need to know:

• Every cheer, every word, every count

• Which band songs pair with which sidelines and cheers

• Where you stand during every single moment of the game—pregame, kickoff, timeouts, scoring drives, all of it

• How you get in and out of transitions without chaos (especially when you’re sharing the space with the band)

• Timeout routines that have to be precise, because the pictures you make as a team communicate everything to the crowd

• Pregame, pep rallies, campus events, and the order of everything that happens on game day

Every person on that sideline has a job. When someone doesn’t know theirs, everyone feels it and the crowd sees it.

Please, Use Your Summer

This is the thing I said over and over again as a coach, and I’ll say it here too:

Do not wait until you get back on campus.

I watched it happen every single year. A dancer gets their spot, exhales, enjoys their summer, and then shows up to camp behind. Camp doesn’t slow down for anyone and if you show up unprepared, you jeopardize your ability to be on the field.

From the second you’re back, you’re juggling camp, football practices, team rehearsals, the start of school, meetings, and events. It piles up fast. There is no grace period where you get to ease in.

But if your program sends you material over the summer, sidelines, quarter break routines, music, videos, that is a gift. Use it!

Run the material in your living room. Watch the videos until you’re sick of them. Practice until it stops feeling like learning and starts feeling automatic. Because when you show up already comfortable with the content, you walk into camp with your head up instead of your eyes glued to the dancer in front of you.

That confidence? Your coaches notice it. Your teammates notice it. And you feel it.

Game Day Is a Long, Exciting, Exhausting Day

A football game is not a two-hour performance.

For most programs, you’re looking at early morning prep, a walk-through or rehearsal, pregame, sidelines the entire game, timeout routines, crowd engagement, halftime, and then post-game traditions before you can even think about going home.

It is high energy, and it is so much fun, I promise you that. But it also takes real stamina and real focus. The dancers who thrive are the ones who come prepared, stay locked in, and genuinely love being part of something bigger than themselves.

Here’s What I Want You to Hold Onto

The transition is a lot. I won’t sugarcoat it. But on the other side of all of it is something that’s genuinely hard to describe to someone who hasn’t lived it.

The bus rides. The inside jokes. The way game day starts to feel like yours once you know your role. The friendships that form when you’ve been through something hard together.

College dance teams become a community in a way that’s really special. And once you find your rhythm, and you will, everything starts to click into place.

You made the team. Now go grow into your role on it. The work is just getting started, and it is so worth it.