On Monday and Friday nights if you listen close enough, you may be able to hear the Lady Gaga remixes playing on repeat in Yosemite Hall. You probably did not know the low buzzing was coming from the Hornet Girlz, Sacramento State’s dance team.

The Hornet Girlz are the dancers you see on the sidelines at nearly every game, from football to women’s basketball, dressed in some form of sparkly green and gold, not to be confused with the cheerleading team. Unlike the majority of college dance teams, the Hornet Girlz main purpose is not eyeing national trophies. The team is completely focused on providing a spirit squad at Sac State.

“It’s really important because we kind of serve as ambassadors to the school,” said senior team leader Courtney Haun. “We can get our friends and the crowd involved in different things.”

Roberts said that being part of the Hornet Girlz is not easy work.

“It’s underestimated how hard they work,” Roberts said. “I think there are a lot of things that go unnoticed. And they are just a bunch of great girls that do this on their own time. There are no scholarships that are available. They do this because they love the program and they love to dance.”

Aside from dancing and studying, the Hornet Girlz do a lot of community outreach.

They participate in events like the Breast Cancer Awareness walks, the Relay for Life and Vision Walks. The Hornet Girlz perform at local high schools and sometimes for the Shriners Children’s Hospital.

You will also see them showing pride at all school events, including when new students move into their dorm rooms, Homecoming Week and the Choreography Showcase.

“I like how involved we are in the school,” said sophomore Rachael Jensen. “It’s a great way to enhance your college experience and be a part of your college, and really be proud of where you go to school, and get people involved.”

Roberts said the team continuously finds more ways to bring a higher level of energy to everything they do.

“The best part of performing at events is entertaining the crowd and just having a lot of school spirit and seeing the crowd react to us and seeing how the team reacts to us,” said junior team leader Danielle Rego.

Jensen said when recruiting new girls, Roberts looks for people who really want to work as a team, and essentially like a family.

“It gives the girls a sense of belonging at the school,” Roberts said. “It gets them pumped up and I think they bring a great amount of energy.”

You might not know it, but next time you see the Hornet Girlz perform during halftime, you will probably see more to them than just dance moves.

Cassie Kolias can be reached at [email protected]