Hoover High School Buccanettes Capture 2 National Championships

HOOVER, AL — Championships are nothing new to Hoover High School, and that does not just include football. Hoover's Buccanettes dance team came away with some hardware at this year's DTU National Dance Team Championship.

Due to COVID-19, the Buccanettes had to enter the competition's Virtual Division instead of competing in person in Orlando. The varsity team competed in the Large Varsity Jazz and Small Varsity Hip Hop categories, while the junior varsity team competed in the Junior Varsity Jazz category.

After the preliminary round, Buccanette Head Coach Alicia Wilbanks said the Varsity Buccanettes were in seventh place for Jazz and second place for Hip Hop, and Junior Varsity Buccanettes were in second place for JV Jazz headed into finals. For the first time since 2016, the Varsity team advanced to finals in both the jazz and hip hop categories.

By the end of the competition, the varsity tream had captured first place in the Hip Hop category and the junior varsity had won first place in its Jazz competition.

"It was incredible," Wilbanks said. "It was something we have dared not hope for several years. It is always a goal in any competitive activity to win, but it is incredibly difficult, so challenging, and these teams are from all over the country. We compete against private schools, public schools, magnet fine arts schools from all kinds of powerhouse states that are really strong. Advancing to finals is the best thing in the world. Making the top five is amazing. Winning a National Championship is something we, of course, always hope for, but we never really expect. For us to win this year in both Varsity Hip Hop and in JV Jazz was amazing."