Aside from being a Her Campus member, I am also on my college dance team at The University of Tampa– The Spartan Scarlets. I was lucky enough to be chosen as a freshman and offered a spot on the team. So far, it has been the best experience of my life. Meeting new teammates, making forever-long friends, dancing, and performing are everything I could have wanted and more! Being a dancer my entire life, I knew continuing to dance more professionally in the future and at the school I chose to attend was a very important decision for me. Although there are countless dance teams in colleges all around the country, a big struggle is the representation throughout the schools, obviously depending on the team and school.
The University of Tampa is a D2 school, and although we have amazing facilities and many great sports teams, we are not a very spirit-oriented school. One of our dance team’s sole purposes is to support other teams in the school and bring school spirit to the students, players, bystanders, community, and staff of UT. As well as competing at Nationals in the spring, this year, we are attending the College Classic in Orlando. I know for many schools, dance teams have a hard time receiving recognition for the accomplishments we hold and our presence within the school. Because dance within colleges is not represented by other NCAA sports, most D1 dance teams present themself at UDA nationals amongst all other D1 teams, which is dance’s special competition for the best of the best in D1. Although many teams have national rankings and have won many national titles, teams are still not represented by the NCAA by any means, considering we are as much of a sport and athletes as any other team, like football, basketball, lacrosse, etc.
At UT, our team is still not considered a “school sport”. Like many other dance teams, we are not funded by the school athletics; we are instead considered a “student-run organization,” meaning we receive a small amount of money every year from Student Government, and the rest is up to us. This means lots and lots of fundraising, money out of our own teammate’s pockets, and as well as our coaches dedicating their time to the team. This means that our team also has a hard time having and gaining facilities for our team practices, not enough recognition from the school, and sometimes not being taken seriously enough by students. Being categorized as a college student-athlete is truly what we are, but we are not considered by it at all. Dance means the world to me and so many other people out there, especially being on the Spartan Scarlets, and I hope one day, many will come together to realize the hard work, dedication, sweat, and tears that truly come from being a dancer and on a team as an athlete.