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Published: Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 / Updated: Monday, Feb. 18, 2013 04:55 PM

Coach to call signals to dance partner at Dancing with the Stars – Fort Mill’

FORT MILL -- 

Nation Ford football coach Michael Allen and cheerleading coach Kristen Rhodes have spent hours each week practicing for Saturday night’s Dancing with the Stars – Fort Mill event. The competitive pair make for a dedicated team, Allen said.

Surprisingly, he said, he’s learning more than just dance moves. He’s also learned a little more about his hometown of Fort Mill.

“I’ve always been proud of where I’m from and what have you but going through this and watching people go out of their way to help out our young people, it’s refreshing and makes you proud to be from here,” Allen said.

As he prepares for the competition, we asked him a few questions:

Q: Why did you want to participate?

“The number one reason is to help our young people and provide opportunities for them. It’s not going to be there unless our community is doing something like this to raise funds so they can have these opportunities.”

Q: Do you have any dance experience?

“I took some dance lessons as a kid but other than that, no, not at all, other than just having fun dancing.”

Q: What is your strategy for “Dancing with the Stars – Fort Mill?”

“Coach Rhodes and I are both competitive people and we’re just working hard and making sure our dance is together and we don’t hurt each other in the process. We’re taking is seriously. We work for an hour and a half and we go pretty hard.”

Q: Why do you think middle school sports are important?

“It teaches them to work together in a team, commit to accomplishing a task and those things are critical in the game of life and I think it’s a big part of the education process. It gives them an outlet to expend some of that energy that may be negative if they didn’t have that opportunity and keeps them out of trouble and gives some kids a reason to come to school. If it weren’t for athletics, I hate to think what some of them would be doing if they weren’t in sports.”