Captains Valerie Hsu (12) and Serenity Calica (12) stood in a circle, hand-in-hand, right over left, with the other 12 members of Color Guard, their coach giving a pep talk in the middle. Preparing to go on stage at UCI Bren Center for the 2025 Winter Guard Association of Southern California (WGASC) Championships, April 13. Breathing in for four, holding for four, and releasing for four, they bring their focus back to the moment.
“I remember being in that moment just so proud and thinking, ‘I don’t even really care how we play or what score we get,’” Hsu said. “I’m just very proud that we got here and that we have such an amazing show, and I know we’re gonna do great.”
They had just competed, the previous day, against 48 of the top high school Winter Guard teams in their division, Scholastic A, for a spot at Championships.
“We knew we would do well based on past scores and based on the scores of other schools, but it was still very nerve-wracking,” Calica said. “I remember standing behind our other captain, squeezing her hand and just waiting.”
The team placed second at preliminaries with a score of 85.180, which Hsu said really set the tone for the team’s performance in the finals.
The theme of this year’s Winter Guard show, “Pasado. Presente. Y Futuro,” meaning “Past. Present. And Future,” is a tarot card reading show, utilizing cards to convey the mood changes throughout the performance. The first card, which represents the past, is the sun card. The second card, representing the present, is the lover’s card. And the third card, which represents the future, is death. The three cards each have a symbol: a sun, two lovers embracing, and a skeleton. As the show begins, the cards are displayed on stage, unrevealed, and as the show plays through, performers uncover each card, the mood and music transitioning to accompany the new theme.
Calica and Hsu said that their show this year was very different from past years as they experimented with a new style that has never been performed in Color or Winter Guard.
“In past years we’ve been quirky, [but] this one is a little bit more serious and sassy, so there were definitely moments where we were like, ‘How do we perform this?’” Calica said. “For example, my freshman year Winter Guard show was ‘Beginners Guide To Gardening’ where we performed more ‘quirkily’ and happy with very little change in our expression, walking the audience through how to plant the perfect flower. In contrast, this year we had a wide variety of different expressions based on the song that was playing. The first song was the sun card, which was interpreted as very exciting and celebratory, the second song is lovers which is pretty self explanatory, you act lovey dovey. Our last song is death; performing that as intense, sassy and threatening in a way. It definitely gave us a challenge that we knew we could do, so it was a healthy balance for us.”
Hsu said the biggest challenge the team has faced this season is its lack of numbers.
“We have 14 people, and the guards that we compete against, like RBHS, typically have [around] 34 people, and that can make a large difference because part of the judging criteria is how many people can execute a certain skill,” Hsu said. “Color Guard is a very visual thing. It’s a sport of the arts, so seeing more flags in the air is more points. We really had to find a way around that, and I think we did. We played with our show design very strategically. We had a small floor this year, which is to separate the space so when everyone gets on, we look bigger.”
Overcoming their challenges, Color Guard placed seventh out of the 15 top-scoring teams in Southern California at the 2025 WGASC Championships, with a score of 86.300.
“As a group, we all felt incredibly proud of all the months of hard work,” Calica said. “[Placing well at] preliminaries was to be expected since we had one of the top scores in our bracket, but finals was definitely a different surprise. Nonetheless, we all felt good for both days.”
Hsu describes the Color Guard community as a supportive and loving environment, and as she approaches the end of her time with Color Guard, she said the community is one thing she’ll miss the most.
“We’re always the loudest in the crowd for each other, and we help each other out on the floor,” Hsu said. “There’s time built into the schedules to help other teams. We help pull out their floors and set up their props, and we also stay to watch them perform, folding the floor and cleaning up the props after their shows. I just love the community.”
As the Color Guard season comes to an end, Hsu and Calica said that one of the things they’re going to miss most when they leave is their team dynamic.
“I remember the last time we performed that show, I started crying right after because I was like, ‘Wow, this is gonna be one of the last times I’m ever going to perform with this team,’” Calica said. “I think I’m gonna specifically miss this team because we’re all friends with each other. I feel like everyone clicks with each other, and that’s really nice.”
