The LSU Winter Guard is making a new name for themselves and facing a pressure-filled season following its undefeated 2024 run.
Winter Guard is Color Guard without the band and held indoors. Its competitions are similar to competitive cheer and dance. The 2024 Winter Guard team broke the school record with an 83.75 in its undefeated championship run. The team only lost three people from last year, setting it up for a successful 2025 season.
“‘We’re competing at a higher level this year,” Winter Guard Vice President Kaylyn Rhodes said.
“With our coach from the fall, I’m hoping to get a set of fresh eyes and gain new insight and experience to this.”
Winning the championship last season has led to more people trying out for the team this season. Rhodes said this was the largest auditioning group they’ve had. This year, 60 people auditioned, compared to the 20 to 40 in years past.
“I am very proud of us, but this sport, art, whatever you want to call it, is very important to me,” Rhodes said. “We’re going to a competition in Georgia this year to compete against different schools, and the fact that they didn’t even have that ability to do that four years ago is amazing, and that next year they might even go further.”
Winter Guard treasurer Leah Stockstill said the team raises all the money themselves. Everything they do has to come from fundraisers because the only money they get is for travel that LSU allots to them and the fees the members pay. Stockstill said this goes against what everyone assumes of their team.
“People ask me at competitions if we get paid to do Winter Guard but really we’re self made, and I think it would be cool if we could bring more eyes to that, so that they could see that we’re not just doing this because the school is giving us money,” Stockstill said. “We’ve built this up ourselves, and it’s what drives people to join the LSU Color Guard and contribute to the school as a whole and the band atmosphere.”
Despite its new classification and team members, Winter Guard is trying to perform even better this season.
“We left the season last year on such a high, it’ll carry over,” Stockstill said. “The people that are still there will keep the motivation to do better and then it’ll hopefully spread to the underclassmen that just joined this year.”
The pressure is on for the 2025 LSU Winter Guard. With about 20 people returning and their large auditioning class, they are expected to be even better.
“We are being held to a higher standard now,” Stockstill said, “We have more pressure to perform to that standard. But I think we can do it.”
