Who are the Scotties?
The Maryville College Scotties dance team supports the fighting Scots by providing spirit through dancing during half-time at each home men’s and women’s basketball games, as well as each home football game. Since 1993 the Maryville College dance team has been a source of friendship, school spirit, empowerment and sharing the love of dance.
The current team consists of 6 girls, which includes: sophomore coach Bethany Anderson, senior coach Sydelle Young, sophomores Alli-Grace Gilstrap and Kennedy Hardnett, as well as freshmen Elly Jackson and Kalli Knight.
Scottie,Kennedy Hardnett, brings her all to the court for their half-time performance.
Photo taken by Savannah Stewart.
The team strives to learn new group dances for nearly every game, as they spent a good bit of time during the week rehearsing and learning dances for the upcoming games. Their dance styles are primarily hip-hop based, but in past seasons they have done a couple of jazz dances. When the team started in 1993, the girls called themselves the Untouchables.
According to alumnus Julie Nachman, a staff writer for the Highland Echo in 1993, the “Scotties started as a student led organization, and the choreography was designed by a few students and was morphed to fit the needs of each girl on the team.”
Over the years they have brought in coaches who were apart of the faculty of Maryville College, but it has remained a student-led organization. In the 2018-2019 school year, Alyssa Miller and Jordan Dopp restarted the team as student co-coaches. After missing a season of football, the team was started up again by Bethany Anderson in the 2019-2020 school year.
Bethany Anderson performs with the Scotties during half-time.
Photo taken by Savannah Stewart.
Class of 2017 graduate Candace Whitman shared her favorite memory of being a part of the team: “At the homecoming game my sophomore year, our music went out in the middle of the dance. We kept on dancing even after the music stopped, and everyone in the stands cheered us on. It was a great bonding moment for us.”
“I was so proud that all of our hard work practicing paid off,” Whitman said. “It was my favorite performance I’ve ever done because the crowd was so supportive.” Whitman was on the team from 2013 to 2018 and was the captain for the 2016-2017 school year.
The team isn’t all about dance—it has also always been about friendship and empowerment too.
“The Scotties, in my memory, were very supportive and close to each other,” said class of 2019 graduate Bailey Decker. “We had a coach that really showed us what we were capable of, and we had some good captains as well.” Decker was on the team from 2016 to 2018.
The current Scotties enjoy making TikTok videos together in their spare time. The current advisor for the team is Becky Davis, and the girls noted that she is absolutely wonderful. Come out and support the Scotties at all of the home men’s and women’s basketball games this season. If you want updates on the Scotties dance team, you can follow their Instagram account @mc_scotties_dance_team.