Ever since their sophomore year, Paige Derenard (11) and Paige Bergman (11) have been captains of the Aliso Niguel Color Guard team. From that moment on, the two captains have led the team to success and countless accomplishments with their strong passion for color guard.
As Derenard and Bergman have done color guard for three years now, they joined color guard together in their freshman year. Taking after her mother who was previously a color guard member, Derenard was inspired to join color guard to become a part of ANHS. Ever since she attended tryouts, she fell in love with the sport and committed herself to being a part of the team.
On a similar note, Bergman joined color guard because she wanted to be a part of a team and make new friends, who eventually became her second family. Color guard also came with many benefits including physical education credit, which further motivated her to join color guard. Bergman’s motivation to join color guard quickly transformed into an intense drive to keep doing color guard throughout high school and possibly, after high school as well.
For their love of color guard, Derenard became captain in sophomore year to see changes in the program, and Bergman became captain in sophomore year because the color guard coach highly encouraged the idea to her. They both wanted to prove their leadership skills as sophomores and their capability to lead the team even as underclassmen.
Derenard admires the captain position as she is able to look out for all her teammates and watch them improve over the time they have been on the team. From Bergman’s perspective, she enjoys working together and making decisions together, especially when their ideas come out successful. They help bring camaraderie within the team as well as their teammates, bonding over both positive and negative outcomes that have come from their color guard journey.
Bergman shares her goal for the current winter season: “I want the team to be satisfied with their show each time they perform regardless of our scores. I want them to be happy and smiling when they walk off the floor.”
Without a doubt, being a leader comes with many obstacles. Dealing with the issues that arise between members on the team and gaining respect from members regardless of age have been some of the many struggles for Derenard when transitioning into becoming a leader. Keeping up with countless responsibilities inside and outside of the season have been a struggle for Bergman and still continues to be challenging.
Despite all of their ups and downs, Derenard and Bergman adore color guard most for its long lasting memories. As the ANHS Color Guard team has gone out on several wins since they joined the team, every final competition, such as championships, have always been so memorable for the two of them. Specifically, winning first place in state last season will always remain in their hearts and one of the happiest moments of their lives in color guard.
Derenard reminisces on the final competitions saying, “I just love seeing how everyone lights up and has their ‘I did it’ moment when we get announced and handed our awards at the award ceremony. It makes all the stress and time that has been put in over the season worth it.”
Before and during their captain career, Derenard and Bergman have done their utmost ability to bring out their full potential and aim for high accomplishments. As they enter their third winter guard season, Derenard and Bergman continue to strive for the team’s success and set the bar high for yet another outstanding winter guard show.
