It was hard, but she made it happen.
Officer tryouts was one of the biggest challenges junior Ryann Phillips faced during her time on Silver Wings. In January, she had a meeting with the team that walked her through everything she needed to do. First, she had to create a fully-decorated binder with formations, pep rally remixes, a letter to the directors, teacher recommendations, transcript and changes to make for the team.
After that, she taught the team choreography, polished a section of the dance, gave a speech to the team and performed a dance for three judges, as well as interviewed with them.
The next day, she pulled up the post the second it was released online: she was going to be the 2025-2026 Silver Wings captain — the position she wanted since her freshman year.
Phillips has been dancing since she was 2 years old. As she grew older, she found a love for dance and decided to stick with it. Many people at her dance studio were part of the Silver Wings, so Phillips decided to try out for the team, too, and made it.
In Phillips’ freshman year, the captain was alumna Caroline Holloway. She was someone Phillips had danced with outside of school, and she also looked up to Holloway as captain. That was when Phillips decided she wanted to do that, too.
She tried out for an officer position at the end of her freshman year, but did not get it. At the end of her sophomore year, she tried again and became the junior lieutenant. Phillips fell in love with being a leader.
Phillips said her biggest strengths as a leader is being able to help people as well as staying in the know. She likes being able to help the team improve their dances and become better — being able to see the big picture when everything comes together at the end is the most rewarding part for her.
Next year, Phillips said she hopes the team will keep a strong bond while also staying focused in practice. She wants everyone to be able to enjoy their time, work hard, get stuff done, be respectful and improve as a team.
While Phillips is still undecided on a college and a major, she hopes to continue dancing in college. She is interested in the University of Arkansas, but is keeping her options open and looking at other colleges. No matter where she goes in the future, she hopes dance will remain a part of her.
