The Fort Mill High School dance team is expanding its repertoire this year.

In addition to the usual school performances, coach Liz Dukes and former team member Courtney Wright are leading the 14 girls into competition.

"This team has expressed an interest in competing," says Dukes, who is entering her fifth year as coach. "I have a lot of strong dancers this year."

Despite holding limited practices during the summer, the team has already taken home honors from the Universal Dance Association's dance team camp. Held in July at Wake Forest University, the program included 12 hours of dance per day.

"It's a lot of hard work for the girls, but it's a lot of fun, too," says Dukes, who confiscated the team's cell phones for what she called its "first chance to bond."

Fort Mill placed third out of nine teams in the varsity division and qualified for the National Dance Team Championship in Orlando. Also, a remarkable five out of six girls who auditioned for UDA All-Stars were selected: Taylor Hoverman, Alicia Raszeja, Ashton Celec, Kayla Eikenberry and Stephanie Harper.

The team also took home the UDA Leadership Award, something team captain Hoverman is proud of.

"We stepped up and helped everyone in the camp," she says. That included holding evening practice sessions to re-teach the day's dance combinations to other teams.

Hoverman has several years of experience competing as a dancer and started training when she was 3 years old. Like the rest of the team, she trains at a private studio in addition to the twice a week practices that will resume with the school year.

"You're very involved in your school and it's very cool when people look forward to seeing you," Hoverman says of the team's performances at football and basketball games. "It's just a lot of fun, performing at halftime, and I can share my talent with my friends."

Instead of filling up the calendar with several competitions, Dukes will focus on two or three high-quality venues.

"I'm very excited because I feel that we have a very strong team and they all work really hard," says Hoverman. "Competitions will be a great place to show everyone what we work on and be rewarded for it."

The team will be holding fundraisers throughout the year to help defray the costs of travel and entry fees.

"We're hosting a breakfast with Santa this December, that will be the biggest fundraiser," Dukes says. "We're looking for support from anyone in the community."

Anyone interested in trying out for or supporting the dance team can e-mail Dukes at dukese@fort-mill.k12.sc.us.