While growing up in North Chicago, Sameia Charity performed with the Hi-Steppers Drill Team.
“That drill team made me who I am,” said Charity, now the director of the Zion-based Elite Striders Drill Team & Drum Corp she founded in 2014.
The Elite Striders are hosting a dance and drum line competition, open to the public, for 16 teams across the country on May 14 at Zion-Benton Township High School. The competition is a fundraiser.
Tyrus Sellers will serve as celebrity host, Charity said, adding spectators will see “fancy costumes, glitter and glam, sequins and sparkles, drummers, stunts and dancers.”
The event will open with the national anthem and a color guard presentation.
“I want to show people this is how you run a competition This is how professional you need to be,” said Charity, who ran the inaugural competition in Zion last year.
“Every team will have something up their sleeves,” she added. “Last year a video went viral when a drummer from Kansas City picked up another, turned him upside down and then played the drums upside down.”
Charity’s Elite Striders won’t compete, but they will perform at the event, she said.
Participating teams will compete in the categories of dance, drill line and drum time.
Charity founded the Striders after earning a master’s degree in human service from Liberty University, based in Virginia. Her team consists of 35 drillers and 10 drummers from across Lake County.
She teaches the group six core principles: accountability, confidence, discipline, integrity, leadership and respect.
“My goal is to make these young people great human beings,” she said.
One way to do that is to teach discipline, she said, something she learned when she was a member of a drill team in high school.
“It also gave me a lot of experience as far as traveling and seeing new places,” Charity said. “When you’re growing up in a low-income area, your family may not have the funds to take you places. My dance team was like a village that helped raise me.”
The Elite Striders practice five hours a week and also volunteer cleaning highways in Zion and working at Feed My Starving Children.
The drummers in the team learn hand and stick movements on cymbals as well as snare, field, bass and tenor drums. The drillers learn detailed, intricate steps that go with the drumming. They’ve won a national drill team competition in the past and are attending nationals in Alabama this August. They’ve performed at local parades including the Labor Day parade in Zion and another in Waukegan.
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“A lot of times, when we’re in a parade, people are waiting to see us and they will follow us through the parade. They clap along. It’s fun to see people smile and laugh,” Charity said.
One goal of the team is to bring events like the competition to the Zion area. The group has received two tourism grants from the city of Zion.
“At the competitions, the spectators get involved,” Charity said. “It makes them happy.” During intermission at the Zion competition, spectators will be invited to dance with the performers, she added.
Sixteen teams from Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa and other states will compete. Judges will look at precision, togetherness, showmanship, the whole look, uniqueness, audience reaction and the wow factor, she said. That could include back flips, hand springs and outfit changes. “The judges also will look for marching and maneuvering precision in the drill teams and how sharp they are,” Charity added.
Charity has three days planned for the performers including a meet-and-greet on Friday, the competition on Saturday and an outing to Six Flags Great America on Sunday.
“It builds camaraderie with the teams,” she said. “We’re trying to keep these kids engaged positively, get them way from some of the negative things that might be happening in their households or their communities.”
Charity lives in Beach Park with her three daughters who participate with the Elite Striders. Trynity Davidson, 17, is a high school senior and plans to study math and education in college. Serenity Davidson, 16, is a high school junior and Charity Davidson, 13, is in eighth grade.
Her son, Dmetrice Thomas, is attending college where he earned a partial scholarship for his drumming skills.
Drill or Die Dance and Drum Line Competition
When: Noon-6 p.m. May 14
Where: Zion Benton Township High School, 3901 W. 21st St., Zion
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at door
Information: 847-856-9577, elitestridersdrillteam.com
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.