Woosh. The echoes of spinning flags bounced off the gym walls as Brooke Birchett (12) leapt into her routine. The judges’ eyes followed her every move, watching every twirl, toss, and catch. Anxiety coursed through her body, knowing one mere slip could impact her chance of joining one of the nation’s most elite youth performing arts programs, the Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps’ Color Guard.
After days of intense auditions, Birchett earned a spot in Pacific Crest. From June 27 to Aug. 8, Birchett will be travelling across the country to perform for large audiences in stadiums, parades, and other events.
“I’m excited, but quite nervous honestly,” Birchett said. “I can’t wait to travel to states I’ve never been to before while doing what I love. I’m curious to see what I’m capable of withstanding, because it will be both insanely physically and mentally challenging.”
Birchett has been performing with Westview Color Guard since her sophomore year. Prior to joining Pacific Crest, Birchett attended multiple camps hosted by the program to get a feel for the role. She said that the program was incredibly different from Westview Color Guard.
“At first, I signed up just to get a feel of how Pacific Crest works,” she said. “It was a lot more compared to the regular [Westview] practices I was familiar with. The choreography was different, the coaches were different, everything was different. I’m familiar with what my coach gives us for choreography, so it was really fun and challenging to learn something new like that.”
Pacific Crest hosted a two-day camp at Diamond Bar High School for individuals looking to audition for a spot in the program, Dec. 6-7. The camp was broken up into multiple blocks dedicated to improving different skills, such as pliés, tendus, and angular tosses.
“I got there at around 8 o’clock in the morning, I checked in, we all stretched, and then we began our first block,” Birchett said. “We had our first block for about three hours, a break for lunch, then another block for three hours, before I had dinner, and then another block. It was like a cycle.”
Around 80 individuals auditioned for the program, but only 43 would earn a spot in Pacific Crest. Birchett said that she was excited when she heard from her coach that he was considering her for a spot on the team.
“[Pacific Crest] decided to send out some early contracts before the audition itself,” Birchett said. “We all stayed at the school overnight, and one Sunday morning, when I woke up, my coach, Chadd, called me over, and he was like, ‘Hey, you’re really good, we wanna give you a spot on the team.’ I was just so happy.”
Birchett said that what stood out most to her was how inclusive and encouraging everyone in the program was.
“The energy at Pacific Crest is amazing; you can just tell that everyone loves what they’re doing, and has a supportive and positive attitude,” Birchett said. “It felt like I really belonged.”
Although Color Guard will soon enter its indoor competition season, Birchett said she will continue to attend clinics hosted by Pacific Crest.
“I’ve been mainly focusing on Westview Color Guard because of our winter guard season coming soon,” she said. “However, Pacific Crest does have specific camps for the corps itself on weekends that I can easily drive up and go to now that I have the contract.”
With Birchett’s upcoming performances this summer with Pacific Crest, she said that Color Guard played a big role in achieving her dreams.
“I would not have been able to do this without Westview Color Guard, my coaches, and the people of my team who have helped me get this far,” Birchett said. “[Westview Color Guard] has encouraged me to try new things, and they believed in me when I didn’t. They really have helped me discover what I want to do.”
