The show was a dazzle of color and music as the Picayune Memorial High School color guard performed during Meet the Tide with the band and Pride of the Tide dancers.

The guard was spaced throughout the entire formation of the band, and would weave their way through the musicians and dancers during the performance to get where they needed to go.

The stands were occupied by a great number of supportive friends, family members, and others who came out to see the performance and be introduced to the football team.

The color guard played an integral role in adding color and flair to the performance that featured great showings from the band’s musicians and Pride of the Tide dancers.

It was the group’s first performance of the year, and Director Sherrie Hoffman said that Meet the Tide serves as an introduction for the guard members how to perform for others.

“They’re excited, they’re nervous and we use that performance to see what we have and see where we have to go from there,” Hoffman said. “It looked like the same things that we’ve been working on perfecting still need some work.”

Not only did the guard perform on the field, but they also worked on their routines for the stands during the football team’s introduction.

Hoffman said that there’s a learning curve when it comes to those routines.

“We’re still working on getting the timing right,” Hoffman said. “There are a couple that are new, and when they were up in the stands for Meet the Tide they were still learning those.”

After the show, the guard and Hoffman reviewed recordings of the performance to find areas of improvement.

The students were honest about their performance, and the discussion helps facilitate changes to the routine.

“They’re really good about knowing what to improve on and what they already have,” Hoffman said.

“There are some parts of the performance that we realized once we were on the field wouldn’t work, and that’s when we can change things.” Since Meet the Tide was more than a week prior, the squad shifted its focus on the first football game of the season held on Friday.

The color guard now has a performance’s worth of experience, and Hoffman said that will serve the squad well come game time.

“They got that nervousness about being on the field for the first time and being in front of a crowd,” Hoffman said.

“That’s all gone and now they can just concentrate on the performance.”

Meet the Tide was the first time the group had gone through the whole performance without stopping to fix errors.

Their familiarity with the show will increase with time, and Hoffman said the squad was ready for football season to begin. “We’re really excited about having first game and cheering on the football team,” Hoffman said.

“The girls love it.”