“Five, six! Five, six, seven- squeeze out- and catch!” This phrase is exclaimed in unison as the auxiliary performs a pop toss; Emphasizing their actions to control their strength. The fabric of each flag glides delicately upward, then regains gravity, landing into the dominant hands that lifted the flags initially. The team eyes one student the most: their devoted captain, Alyna Hodgson Martinez. 

Alyna did color guard for three years. It wasn’t until this previous summer, she was officially announced as the team’s captain.  

“It’s a lot but I wouldn’t change it because I personally like being busy so this is great for me,” Alyna said with a smile. According to the senior, colorguard was never her first choice. During her freshman year she joined colorguard thinking it was mostly majorettes. “I kept going because then I heard, we don’t have a majorettes team. So I’m like, okay, this is the closest I’m going to get to majorettes.” 

During the beginning of freshman year, Alyna wanted nothing to do with the club. She was even thinking of dropping the club entirely; but as time went on and competitions neared, she fell in love with the sport. “It’s just beautiful, and then when you compete and then everybody applauds, it’s like all the effort I put in is worth something.” 

And the effort Alyna put in was worth something, from simple pop tosses to elaborate ‘All Americans, Alyna beautifully danced her way to being the current color guard captain. 

She noted how being a captain has changed some aspects in her daily life: “If I’m just standing in the kitchen, you’ll just see me dancing in the kitchen- or if I just grab something and it looks tossable, you just see me tossing it in the middle of class.” She giggled, “And then I’m like- ‘wait.. no this is not colorguard!”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Priscilla Saliba

As far as actions go, the sport changed the way Alyna viewed herself. “I’ve become a mom. At first I was not like that but now I have to take care of others before myself,” she explained. Alyna now has the responsibility to guide underclassmen, the same way she was guided to success years prior. 

In addition to that responsibility, she also has the opportunity to improve. Alyna is planning on improving some of the team’s work ethics, their choreographic timing, and their overall security in the club. “I wanted everyone to feel comfortable because it is a safe space. It’s like we’re family so I just wanted everyone to feel like they can be themselves, especially around me and our other captain, Emily.” Emily is the junior captain who does winterguard.

For anyone who is afraid to do color guard, Alyna implores them to ‘give it a try’ regardless.  

“I think the best part about being captain is seeing everybody grow and especially newer people, seeing them grow and to like come up to your level of expertise and seeing everybody just change and like love the sport throughout the season,” she says happily.  

It’s only October but the colorguard team is set for success!