As the Poms’ season comes to a close, the Falcons did not place at the Division 1 Poms competition held at Montgomery Blair High School on Feb. 1, 2020. The 2019-2020 season was the first for coaches Mayra Mejia-Hayes and Adrinne Embrey.  They follow Coach Tanya Ventura who had coached the squad for the last ten years. During her time, Coach Ventura coached the team to five division championships, two of them being back to back Division I championships.

“A new year, new team, new coaches,” junior Pom member Indira Fayson noted enthusiastically. 

Both Coach Mayra and Coach Adrienne are PHS Poms alumni that held leadership positions on the team during their time. Over the course of PHS Poms’ history, only two other alumni came back to be coaches: Chontell Dorough Hockenberry and Coach Mayra and Coach Adrienne’s coach, Carolina Perazza. Under Coach Perazza, the Poms team went to states for the first and only time in PHS history. 

The coaches were not the only new faces on the team this year, with nine of the 16 girls of the squad at the end of the season being underclassmen. “This was a heavy building year,” the coaches stated. They focused on building not only the skill of the squad members, but also their perseverance and leadership. 

Their greatest success this year, according to the coaches, was getting to see the squad members grow and become more confident. They wanted to foster an inclusive team environment where everyone felt comfortable contributing and sharing ideas.  

“[Our coaches] are going to make our team the best just like the previous years,” remarked Fayson.

To continue to grow the strength of the team, the coaches plan to implement conditioning classes and monthly or bi-monthly team bonding activities next year, in addition to the Little Sister/Big Sister pair-ups, Secret Santa, community service projects, and team meals they organized this year. While this year the coaches were unable to conduct summer work-shops because they were hired midsummer, they plan to host clinics before the start of next school year. 

“Those extra months [allow] time to prepare routines, team-bond, and attend dance camp — something this squad was not fortunate enough to experience,” noted the two coaches.