What fans don't see: Game day prep with the FSU Golden Girls

Nearly four hours before kickoff, while most fans are still picking out their garnet and gold, the FSU Golden Girls are already on the field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium running their fourth-quarter timeout routine. By the time the crowd sees them on the sidelines, they've been working for most of the day and preparing for months. Golden Girls head coach Nyah Gonzalez said that's the part fans rarely see. “I just think people see them on the sidelines, super pretty, and are like, 'Oh, they're so cute,’” Gonzalez said in an interview with the FSView. “But they don't realize how much is going into every game day.”Gonzalez, now in her second year as head coach, danced on the team all four years as an FSU student before returning as an assistant. Never miss a beat: Sign up for the FSView Newsletter“It's one of those that gives so much to you that you want to give so much back to it,” Gonzalez said. Gonzalez told the FSView that during tryouts, the staff looks beyond technique and instead to personality, work ethic, and how the dancer will represent the university. For many dancers, the road there takes years and lots of training. FSU accounting major Sophia Balaguer submitted recruitment videos throughout her senior year of high school and performed at a combine for college coaches before receiving an offer that January. FSU political science major Eleanor Kim learned of her offer over FaceTime from her older sister, then a senior on the team, who turned the camera around mid-practice to reveal the entire team cheering. "I started crying," Kim said in an interview with the FSView. "It was just a wave of relief."A full-time schedule During football season, the team practices Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m., lifts every Tuesday and Thursday morning, and runs twice a week. Fridays bring a block party, Saturdays bring a game day, and volleyball and basketball games, community service, and other appearances fill the rest of the schedule.The preparation begins before the semester starts. Each season the team learns 10 band dances and 10 pregame routines. Over the summer, they study videos and send clips to veteran dancers for feedback before July boot camp. On game days, the dancers line the Legacy Walk, escort the football team into the stadium, make appearances around campus, and perform a 17-minute pregame alongside the cheer team. "It's literally go, go, go every single second," Kim said. More than danceDancers must log 10 community service hours a semester and keep at least a 2.5 GPA. Beyond this, many Golden Girls also work jobs. Gonzalez said they do it with fewer resources than many top programs. This is the first year the team has had a marley.“The resilience that they have is crazy,” Gonzalez said. For FSU media and communications major Madelyn Munz, the hardest part is the mental load of juggling football, volleyball, and basketball games with competition season and classes. “It's just a lot mentally while having to put on this whole facade of everything being perfect,” Munz said in an interview with the FSView.Balaguer relies on a thick planner, while FSU athletic training major Isabella Clementi schedules her week by the hour, and Kim keeps her roles separate."You put on your Golden Girl hat, and then you have your student hat,” Kim said. Why it's worth itThe hard work builds toward nationals in Orlando, Fla., where the team recently finished top five in jazz. However, Gonzalez said the payoff isn't always reflected in a placement. She pointed to last year's nationals, when the crowd erupted as the team’s hip-hop routine began.“You're touching people that you've never met before,” Gonzalez said. For the dancers, that feeling returns every home game. In her second season, Balaguer still gets goosebumps when the horse comes out.For Kim, walking into Doak S. Campbell Stadium puts it all in perspective. “It makes you feel so small,” Kim said, “but at the same time, larger than life.”Camille Byrnes is a Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com. This article originally appeared on FSU News: What fans don't see: Game day prep with the FSU Golden Girls