Routines are 4-7.5 minutes. Performers are judged on movement, use of equipment, how well they work as a group and the overall impact of the performance. Christina juggles the demands of being catcher on the Fowler High School varsity softball team with being a member of the award-winning winter guard unit because she loves both. Zamora, who also is band director at Sutter Middle School, says all of the students in guard have other things to which they are committed. While sports are seasonal, guard is not.
Members perform as the color guard with the marching band in the fall.
In December, the group turns into the dance and performing group called winter guard. Rehearsals for both begin in the summer and end in April. The schedule must not be too grueling because most of those in Zamora's group have been in guard for four or more years, having begun the activity in middle school. Cynthia Jacinto, a junior, has been in six years. Amanda Florez, a sophomore, for five years.