It’s been 11 years since freshman Erin Bailey first stepped onto the dance floor and discovered what would become her favorite thing to do. Now she’s sharing her talent and starting her high school career on one of the most popular and successful teams at Pattonville.

“I got interested in dance by my mom putting me in classes when I was 3,” Bailey said.

As of right now, Bailey is only involved in Varsity Drill Team, but was also recently nominated for freshmen homecoming court.

“I mostly tried out for Drill Team because I saw my sister on it and it looked fun,” Bailey said. “And I love dance so I thought it’d be cool to try it.”

Like all high school activities, challenges aren’t easy to avoid. The same goes for Drill Team, and Bailey knows exactly how that feels.

Being one of only two freshmen on a team of all upperclassmen has seemed to have no negative effect on her.

“It’s been great spending time with upperclassmen. They help me a lot and give great advice. And it’s nice that they can drive,” Bailey said. “It hasn’t been hard being a freshman on the team. The only thing is I can’t do or relate to a lot of the things that the team can do.”

Drill team is a demanding sport. With practices every day during the school week, and football games almost every Friday. Bailey’s schedule has gone from busy to busier.

“Being on VDT has only affected me after school so far because when I get home from practice, I’m really tired after a full day of school and still have to do homework,” Bailey said. “The biggest challenges I’ve faced so far are the hard practices that we had over the summer, and being really tired after school, and having to go to practice.”

Not only is Bailey setting goals for herself as a dancer, but also for her entire team.

“My goals for the next four years on the team are to improve my dancing, make lots of memories, and have a winning team.”

Students can see VDT in action at every Varsity home football game.