Coach Carmen Yarbrough has been the Chiefettes coach for over a decade and has gotten her team prepared and successful in her years at McIntosh High School. According to mcintoshdance.com, over 97% of the team’s competitions, the Chiefettes’ win first place.

“This year for my position as a coach, this is a dream team to coach because everybody was dedicated and 100% committed from day one. We all set a goal during summer camp that we wanted to win a state championship, and our motto this year was that if we wanted different results, then we had to put in different work,” Yarbrough said.

In February, the competition team took off to Macon, GA to compete at state as finalists. They received a first-place trophy and medals for each dancer. Practices included doing weight training, cardio conditioning, ballet strength training as well as their normal practices at McIntosh.

“When we won state it was the best feeling ever. We were all crying because we work so hard,” junior Daisy Fidler said. “We [sent] homework videos [to coach] of [our pirouette turns] to practice our sequences really just to help us be fully prepared to [perform the turns].”

Yarbrough encourages students to join the team.

“As far as tryouts are concerned, I have two teams, spirit and competition. There are seven days of tryouts, spirit team auditions are first, and then the competition. If anybody is interested in trying out, I already had my interest meeting but, [you] can stop by and see me. I’ve got an informational form they can fill out, [there are also] prep classes at Carla’s dance factory on Wednesdays from 4-5:30p.m. and there are also classes at Peachtree City School and Dance on Monday nights. Those are the best ways to prepare for tryouts,” Yarbrough said.

Tryouts for both teams begin Mon. March 20 in the MHS gym, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. Spirit Chiefettes tryouts are on March 23, and competition tryouts are March 29.

For more information about trying out for the Chiefettes, email [email protected].