Don’t mess with drill girls

If you’re not familiar with military dances at drill team competitions, the best word to describe them is intense.

It’s true that I’m not a piercing girl, but I am a piercing adjacent. I grew up watching my older sister compete in the military and then became a cheerleader.

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I’ll be the first to say that the military is intense (some may even say scary) and my sister can attest that I made fun of her screams and facial expressions, but I would never say it’s not impressive.

After I got over my shock at the randomness of the New York Times article, I was glad that these women were getting some attention.

The Utah High School Activities Association just wrapped up its competitive drill season with state championships in five divisions.

And the finale attracted large, appreciative crowds.

You may not think of drills when you think of high school sports, but you should. According to competition figures from the National Federation of High Schools, the sport jumped to the sixth most popular girls’ sport with 206,262 participants in 2025, representing an increase of nearly 14%.

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As I mentioned before, I was a cheerleader and a tumbler, and in my prime, I could do double backflips (two backflips in one), full double twists (two full twists in one spin), and have the guys toss me into the air while I twisted and turned… but I could never do the headstands that these drill girls do.

Stop reading this article and stand on your head while kicking your legs in different positions, all while your upper body does not move. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you.

Welcome back. I’m going to go ahead and say you couldn’t do it. I couldn’t either.

So thanks to The New York Times for a glimpse into Utah’s highly competitive fitness world, because these dancers in one day not only change costumes multiple times, but apparently change personalities as they compete in dance, military, and showbiz.

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While I am giving flowers to the Utah fitness world, I would be remiss not to expand that to the dominance that the state of Utah has in the entire world of dance and animation. I’m looking at you “DWTS” pros and our college teams winning year after year at the college national championships.

Let’s go back to the military exercises. I’m not asking you not to laugh or make fun of the military, because honestly, it’s a little ridiculous. But make sure you have some respect behind that laugh.

I have talked about my article on exercise; Don’t get me started on why NFL dancers are called cheerleaders.