Flags are flying for Johnson! The color guard has taken off on their Winter Guard season: a series of choreographed performances against fellow teams.

Johnson color guard competes in the Texas Color Guard Circuit (TCGC) and Winter Guard International (WGI). Their first show was Saturday at Akins High School, where both varsity and junior varsity placed first in their class. The WGI International Varsity World Championships take place in April in Dayton, Ohio. 

“It’s just flags, rifles, sabers, dancers, all that indoor stuff,” color guard director David Duffy said. “We learned the show, put it together, and now we’re performing the routines.”

Preparation for Winter Guard began when the fall marching season ended. The team worked on learning and strengthening skills in order to perfect their performances. 

“It’s not as difficult because I’m a veteran,” junior varsity color guard member Payton Land said. “It has been a bit more rigorous, but it’s fun! I’ve been getting buff.”

Each performance is themed with costumes, props and music. The varsity and junior varsity groups are each preparing separate shows. 

“JV is doing ‘Paint it Black.’ It’s a Rolling Stones piece, but we’re doing a London Symphony [Orchestra] version mixed with a female artist. So it’s all dark and mysterious,” Duffy said. “For the varsity group, the show is just called ‘People.’ We’re people and we should be able to get along, and that’s kind of what the show is about.”

Last year, the team made it through their season celebrating many wins. The varsity group continued on to WGI Varsity World Championships, where they placed sixth. 

“It is a lot of hard work, and it’s challenging. We have to push ourselves a lot,” senior varsity color guard captain Christina Rutherford said. “Personally, I’m not going to try and focus on placing and scores. I’m just going to try and improve myself.”

Land said she is looking forward to the rest of the season and excited to see it play out. 

“Color guard is very fun. It’s as difficult as any other sport,” Land said. “I definitely hope it would get the recognition it deserves. We need more color guard people. Especially for marching season, and even more so for Winter Guard, so next year I’m hoping our numbers go up.”