Prescott South Middle School’s Dance Team Makes History In Getting To National Competition

Prescott South Middle School’s dance team made history this weekend as the first Cookeville middle school to make it to the national competition.

Coach Ella Clopton said the last time a school in Cookeville went to nationals was in 2011 when the Cookeville High School dance team attended. She said they were able to achieve this by putting in hours of practice every week for six months.

“I’ve always wanted to take a team to a nationals event not just because of the competition,” Clopton said. “But because it’s good for young dancers in this community to realize that there’s a whole world of people that are just like them and they are all working for the same thing and they are not alone in this.”

Clopton said the team made it to finals and placed 6th in the pom category and 9th in the hip-hop category. Clopton said the team had a great time and loved the experience.

Clopton said it made her emotional to think about how the dancers were able to have this kind of opportunity at such a young age. She said the team had the talent, the choreography, and the drive, and she is proud they were able to have their hard work pay off.

“I actually had a parent who is an assistant football coach come up to me at the end of the weekend and he said, ‘I was an avid person who believed if there’s not a ball it’s not a sport, if it’s not basketball, football it’s not a sport,'” Clopton said. “And he said after this weekend, ‘I am a dance dad and I believe dance is a sport.'”