A color guard is the visual aspect of a marching band. At Cape Central, the color guard performs with the Marching Tigers during their fall season.

A color guard is a team of individuals who twirl flags, throw rifles or sabers, and even dance to emphasize the perceptible side of the marching band during the fall season. Students in the Marching Tigers color guard perform in front of hundreds of people at home football games, parades, and competitions.

Anna Clippard is a senior who has participated in Cape Central´s color guard for the past three years. She began her first year of guard because the band director, Joshua Lamar, encouraged her to try out. Clippard enjoys being on a color guard team. She says ¨I love the color guard team. I’m closer to some more than others but I love that it’s been kind of small because you get to know everyone really well.¨

The color guard team has been smaller in the last couple of years than it has been in years prior. Despite the lack of people, the guard has kept up with bigger and better teams. When asked what it takes to be in color guard, former color guard coach, Joleen Williams says ¨Color guard is a sport like any other; it takes discipline, practice, and commitment. It also takes cooperation as a team member; you must be able to work together to create a beautiful show.¨

Williams joined guard at Owensville High School when she was in eighth grade and then proceeded to coach the team at Cape Central for three years. When asked about how color guard has affected her life, Williams says ¨Color guard is a safe place for me. Some people paint, some people sing, others write poems to express themselves, but I use flag and rifle to make music visible. When I am spinning, I feel free to let my emotions and creativity flow.¨

When some people join a color guard team they believe that it is all easy but it is not. Being a guard member takes dedication. The color guard season starts around February with pre-season practices and then continues with practices throughout the school year. Clippard talks about how hard and stressful camps, practices, and competitions can be. Clippard says ¨At rehearsals, sometimes it’s hard because it is hot outside and sometimes you stand while the band director works with other sections. It can also be hard other days because we will run through the show like three times in a row.¨

Color guard affects every team member differently. Some guards are all about winning but others are all about having fun and enjoying themselves. When asked what color guard means to her, Clippard says ¨Color guard to me is not about winning a competition, or getting first place, it’s about all of the hard work you put into it and then performing it to people and hearing everyone cheering and clapping for you, that’s the best feeling ever.¨