CCGC, which took place at Independence High School on April 3, featured the nine Bay Area high schools in the division, including Saratoga and Lynbrook High, in one of the final Color Guard competitions of the year.

“We did better than last year and it was the best show of this year,” Sullivan said. “[Our routine] looks good and it’s appealing, but it’s the little things.”

Even though the team practices for astonishingly long hours, with 12-hour rehearsals every Saturday, Chou believes that the most appealing part of being on the team is not necessarily about winning but about the friendship of the group. The captains plan team sleepovers and and potlucks at practices to foster this feeling of unity.

“It gets stressful sometimes, but we pull through it,” Chou said. “We’re basically like a big family.”

Now, the team looks to become an even bigger family, focusing on recruiting new members for next year to prevent future problems. In order to attract new members to Color Guard workshops, the captains are hoping to put together a promo video.

“We don’t have many freshman,” Chou said. “So once [the juniors] leave, there are only going to be four people left.”

As for next year, the girls are looking forward to hopefully attending WGI, the Winter Guard International competition, which takes place in Dayton, Ohio and features Color Guards from all of the nation as well as a few international countries.