SEARCY AR, (LP) — At nearly every home football game, you will see the Searcy High School dance team, the Lionsteppers, perform their halftime routine. But once a year, these girls give up their time on the field to share it with the Little Lionsteppers. Little Lionsteppers is a fundraiser that the Lionsteppers put on for girls in grades kindergarten through sixth grade. All proceeds go to the Lionsteppers for new uniforms, t-shirts, poms, and much more. These girls are divided into two groups, the younger girls in one and the older girls in the other. The Lionsteppers split up and teach a one minute dance to the group of girls. 

Lionstepper Livvie Trionfante has participated in teaching Little Lionsteppers for the past two years. 

“Teaching little kids is very fun, but at the same time a lot of hard work,” comments Trionfante. “They want to listen one second, then the next they want to do spins on their own and play with their friends. They are quite an entertaining bunch.”

Not only do the Lionsteppers teach the girls a fun and easy dance, but they also learn basic technique: how to do kicks, leaps, turns, and toe touches, and how to spirit after they perform. 

Trionfante adds, “It is important to teach the basics of dance before throwing the choreography at them. We want to make sure they know how to point their toes or when to spirit.”

There are many benefits that come to putting on this fundraiser for the Lionsteppers. Amanda Simpson, coach of the Lionsteppers, likes how working with these little girls gives them experience in teaching.

“Putting on Little Lionsteppers really challenges the girls. They have three practices in the evening to teach them technique and the routine, then Friday is the big performance. This gives them a chance to finally teach people other than their own teammates.”

That Friday after a long week of practice, the Little Lionsteppers get to show off what they learned over the course of their practices. While the Lionsteppers are still in front of them to help with the remembering of the routine, the girls get to show off their new moves they learned for their family and friends. 

“My favorite part about Little Lionsteppers is getting to see all their excited faces when it is their turn to go out on the field. They love every second they get out there.”

Simpson adds, “Whether the little girls mess up or not, they always look so adorable and happy. You can tell the audience always enjoys getting to see the Little Lionsteppers perform.”

At the end of the night, the Lionsteppers may not have gotten to perform their own routine as usual, but instead they gave little girls who look up to them a chance to shine on the football field.