Clarke Central High School JROTC Male Squad Drill Team poses for a photo at Elbert County High School after placing second in the drill competition. According to Drill Team coach and Sergeant Donald Hollman, teamwork is an essential part of the drill team. “It’s all about precision, unison and it’s all about discipline, working together as a team and we came out with a win,” Hollman said. Photo by Mackenzie Caudill
On Jan. 27, there was a drill competition at Elbert County High School where the Clarke Central High School’s JROTC team placed second in a competition of 15 teams.
The Clarke Central High School JROTC Male Squad Drill Team came in second place at the Elbert County Drill Competition in the category of Armed Squad Regulation.
“We’ve been practicing for a long time, ever since November and when we went into competition the drill team, they looked good,” Drill Team coach and Sergeant First Class Donald Hollman said. “It’s all about precision, unison and its all about discipline, working together as a team and we came out with a win.”
In the competition, teams marched in a 100×100 foot area in sequences they had been given to memorize. According to commander of the team, CCHS junior Jordan Butler, they were not expecting to win any awards.
“We were really excited because at first, we were all doubting ourselves like ‘Oh my god. We’re not gonna get any trophies’, because we kind of messed up on some stuff,” Butler said. “After we finished the award ceremony, I told everybody to fall out and we all just started jumping and getting hype. When we got on the bus on the way home we had a speaker and we were just playing a whole bunch of lit music.”
According to Hollman, the victory was the result of many hours of practice in harsh weather over the course of several months.
“It’s cold out here and unfortunately drill season is in the cold season,” Hollman said. “I think just that mental fortitude and that mental discipline of the outside environment, it goes a lot into these. Some kids, they don’t like being cold but we have to overcome that and this is what we do as a program. We teach to overcome and we show them basically that you can go through anything and still achieve.”
Hollman is also excited because of what it could mean for the future.
“We’ll just keep building,” Hollman said. “It gives us a stepping stone where we need to start from and just to see the kids and see them win is another great feeling. To see them win, to see their faces — it’s all the hard work that they had that paid off.”
CCHS will be hosting the next drill competition Feb. 3 and Butler encourages people to come out and support the team.
“All competitions start at eight, so if people want to come out and support us they can come talk to anyone of us any period from third to seventh,” Butler said. “They can talk to Sergeant Hollman or Lieutenant Colonel McMickle to check on the dates of the drill team competitions so they can come out and support us.”
