Ashley Reith

How do you envision a successful season of Coeds? What makes a team successful?

As a leader, how would you help move the team toward success?

A successful Coeds season is built on inclusion, respect, and fun. It is important

to create a positive and safe environment where everyone feels welcomed, included,

and recognized for their contributions. We had a phenomenal season last year because

we had leaders who were focused on service and no drama, and wanted the best for

every girl on the team. If we needed help with choreography, a ride to practice, or just

needed advice, we only had to ask and the leadership team was there to help. My goal

for this season is to create a warm and caring environment for the new team members. I

want them to feel appreciated for what they are contributing to the team, to know how

important each member of the team is to our success, and to work hard and have fun.

Dance is our passion and Coeds Varsity is our opportunity to not only improve as

dancers but create unforgettable memories together while we practice, do community

service, study, laugh together, and compete.

The ingredients of a successful team are positive energy, focus, a shared

challenging goal, staying motivated, maintaining accountability, excellent

communication, and taking time for celebration. After deciding on the goals we want to

set for ourselves this year, we need to determine how we will keep each other

accountable and motivated to keep going. A shared goal will help keep us energized

and focused during practice. Each girl is important to the strength of our team and we

need to draw out the best out of each team member. For example, last year all girls
Ashley Reith

agreed that we would point out when we see mistakes and that instead of being

defensive we would welcome these corrections as an opportunity to improve our team.

This team agreement made an incredible difference for our team because we didn’t feel

offended when a correction was given but instead we were thankful that we could work

on a specific area to improve our team. It is important to set expectations together as a

team and have an open flow of communication focused on helping all of us improve and

bring our best selves on the floor.

If I am selected to serve as an officer, I plan to create the welcoming environment

that other team leaders created for me, such as meeting together on our first day of

school, eating lunch together, team bonding events on weekends, sleepovers, extra

practice sessions, and adding new community service projects through our Coeds

Cares initiative. I will acknowledge each team member and compliment them on their

improvement to make sure they see the growth in themselves and realize how important

they are to the success of our team. I will also have fun and build genuine relationships

with the girls as I have learned that at the end of the day, win or lose, we will always

have each other and our incredible Coeds family.