Riannon Hambleton '06

"Pump it up, say what, say what, pump it up, say what! Pump it up, say what, say what, pump it up, say what!"

You may have heard this cheer at a basketball game, but the Deerfield step team extends beyond cheerleading. Behind the scenes, they have been preparing all season for the Northfield Mount Hermon Step Competition.

This is the third year that Deerfield has been invited to the competition. The first year, due to inclement weather conditions, the step team only competed against archrival Choate, obviously out-stepping them. During that 2002-2003 school year, the squad was composed of only female members.

Last year the team competed against approximately ten schools including Andover, Choate, Exeter, Miss Porter's, Middlesex, the host NMH, and other academies we regularly see on our sports fields. Although some of the teams they faced were co-ed, most of the teams were all female.

The Deerfield steppers did not place in the top five, but still gave an outstanding performance. NMH and Miss Porter's placed and Choate won the competition.

On Saturday, February 19, the step team returned to the NMH campus to compete against a similar variety of schools as they did last year. Spanish teacher Virginia Invernizzi is the team's advisor and served on the faculty panel of judges for the competition. The team has been practicing tirelessly and performing at basketball games, where they do sideline cheers and halftime shows. Although there are no tryouts for the step team, and members do not receive varsity recognition, they practice in the Large Auditorium daily from immediately after school until dinner.

For the competition this year, the group chose not to wear their game-time uniforms and opted instead for black T-shirts airbrushed with their newly decided team name "Envied." Step does not receive much funding, as Captains Rosalie Robateau '05 and Paula Bennett '06 point out, and these costumes were obtained through what Robateau called "special connections," otherwise known as the father of Michael Carter '07. Bennett explained the selection of this team name, saying, "With our moves, you can't help but envy us."

Although the team "Envied" bleeds green, they are confident that the other teams will be green with envy this year.

"At the competition we will be performing the routine that Step Afrika made especially for our team," Robateau said. "It is all about precision and it is a bit faster. So far, we aren't planning to use music, but the whole thing is unique yet hardcore. Also, Step Afrika taught us a lot of basics like making our angles sharp and always looking up at the audience. We use what they taught in all our steps now," said Bennett.

In addition to the routine from Step Afrika, the step team is using steps choreographed this year by some of its young and talented members.

Carter and Sam Raredon '07 are two new male steppers, and Roberto Welch '07 is the sole returning male member of this small fifteen-member squad. "The guys bring a deeper voice, and they really help the team stand out. With our look, we are more intimidating now," Bennett said.

"We don't separate ourselves as boys and girls. We are all steppers and do the best that we can," added Amanda Altieri '08.

"Envied" put in enormous amount of preparation and exhibited a huge amount of dedication and school spirit at the Choate Day Rally, MLK Day, basketball games, and interscholastic step team competitions. There are hopes that Deerfield will host a competition in the future, so we can see how our squad really does make other teams green with envy.