Raider team goes to nationals

Football games? Check. Baseball games? Check. Raider Team’s National Competition? Wait, what?

Sparkman High School’s JROTC(Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps) Raider Team will be attending their National Competition Nov. 6-8 in Molena, Georgia. The Raider Team has two to three competitions before going to Nationals depending on how many the instructor schedules.

“We can give it everything [we’ve] got [in order] to do our best. Personally, I’m really excited because I haven’t been to nationals,” senior Shane Higginbotham said.

Raider Team challenges the participants mentally and physically. They must complete tasks in a certain time frame as a team. The leader of the team encourages them to work together and train them for what is to come.

“The Raider Team is the JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps) equivalent of an active duty special operations platoon. It consists of physical fitness [and mental fitness]. It involves executing a number of physical and mentally challenging operations as a team,” Lt. Col. Lloyd Nathan said.

The team was created with the students’ benefit in mind. Although the drill team and the rifle team require mental and physical fitness, the instructors wanted a challenge for the students. Not only does it challenge them, it teaches them self-confidence, the ability to work with others and leadership.

“For those of us who want to join the Armed Forces, it prepares us physically and mentally for what is to come. It also gives us experience in areas such as Rope Bridge and rappelling. Even for those not wanting to join the military, it teaches us leadership skills we can’t learn in the JROTC classroom. It teaches us to bond as a team which to my knowledge is valuable in the workplace,” senior Noah Gardner said.

The week of the competition the Raider Team practices vigorously to better themselves for the next challenge. Said challenges include things like building rope bridges, rapelling, zip lining and other activities.

“We get an understanding of what occurs at the specific competitions. From there we condition and we do in-class training on events such as land navigation or first-aid,” Gardner said.

The Raider Team’s successes thus far include placing at Soddy Daisy, their first competition. However, these successes do not determine whether the team goes to nationals or not — that is decided by the instructor.

“[I credit our success to] the cadets themselves. Their ability to want to sacrifice and compete and do well comparatively to other cadets across the country,” Lt. Col. Nathan said.

Though it is demanding, the students who participate in it find that it becomes a family. Words such as hard work, commitment, team work, and brotherhood were used to describe how the team made them feel.

“It changed the way I am. When I joined the team I was shy and now I am able to talk to others. Raider Team means everything to me because it’s where I get to do something that I love to the best of my ability,” Higginbotham said.