Over February 6th to the 8th the Poms team competed at Universal Dance Association (UDA). This took place in Orlando, Florida on Disney property at the
ESPN center. This is a national dance competition filled with the best dancers from across the county. The Holy Family Pom’s team qualified for this completion over the summer at a UDA camp with their home routine.
The team left on Tuesday at 4:00 A.M they arrived and immediately started preparing for the competition. They spent Wednesday with a four hour practice in the morning then another two hour parking lot practice in the evening. Thursday was the finale day before the competition so they were all laser focused the whole day. They started with a three hour practice in the morning then headed over to the ESPN center for their on floor practice. On floor practice is offered to all the team and it is time on the backstage floor so teams know spacing and get used to the competition floor. This practice was an hour long and required lots of focus as you only get 15 minutes per dance with a bunch of other team also in the room blaring music. They ended the day with another parking lot practice and head to bed early for their next action packed early day.
On Friday, the team had to be up at 4:30 a.m. and headed to the ESPN center to start their day with their first rounding being all spirit with Cheer. They then headed over to perform their hip hop and ended the day competing Pom. They made it to the next round for all of the routines.
On Saturday, they had a 4:30 a.m. call time again and started the day with finales in all spirit with they placed 5th in the nation. They then went into the next round of hip hop. Next, Pom where they hit a good routine that secured their spot in finales. Last one of the day was Game-day and they had a Varsity TV special on them. The camera followed them around and recorded their routine and support from their fans. They ended the say with a two hour parking lot practice and went to bed ready for finales day.
Lastly, Sunday the team woke up and were ready to go by 6:30 they went and competed Pom where they ranked 10th in the nation. It is interesting to note to that the 2025 state champions Roosevelt failed to make finales making Holy Family placed above them. They finished the day with Game-day where they got 7th overall.
Overall, the placement wasn’t as good as the team wished nothing can destroy their hard work and dedication. This team works all year round and 20 times harder than all sports. They have 8 hour practices and competition days that last all day. They also make sure to support other teams as well adding to their practice time. In the end a placement does not determine success and their hard work will always be carried with them. It shapes their drive, dedication, and passion. This team works through obstacles and finds family within one another. 
