Yorkville High School, Yorkville Middle School step teams score a ‘clean sweep’ at Richton Park tournament

Steppers from both Yorkville Middle School and Yorkville High School swept the judges off their feet en route to first place finishes at a step-dancing competition.

The students brought their moves to Southland College Prep School in Richton Park on Feb. 18, for a tournament that attracted step teams from across Illinois and Indiana.

“They were really scared because they were going up against some really good teams,” said Wamecca Rodriguez, coach of the YMS Competition Step Crew and the YHS Stepping Foxes.

After the YMS steppers won their competition, the judges announced the YMS victory by declaring “a clean sweep” for Yorkville, Rodriguez said.

“It was really validating for the kids,” Rodriguez said.

Stepping is a form of percussive dance that originated at predominately African-American colleges and universities in the middle of the last century.

Indeed, the Southland Prep competition was sponsored by the Kappa League, part of Kappa Alpha Psi, the historically African-American fraternity.

With a combination of footwork, hand-clapping and the spoken word, the steppers perform high-energy routines that showcase the students’ artistry, athleticism and precision.

“I treat them like athletes,” Rodriguez said. “I make them work hard and practice over and over until we get it right.”

Rodriguez, the Yorkville Middle School librarian, started the stepper crew at the middle school in 2007 and the high school team in 2012.

There are currently 16 students on each of the teams, which have the status as official school clubs and are open to girls and boys.

Over the years, competitions have taken the students to out-of-town locations as far as New York, Philadelphia, Memphis and St. Louis, Rodriguez said.

The step teams also perform in non-competitive situations, including an annual visit to the Six Flags amusement park, Rodriguez said.

Only the day before their competition win in Richton Park, the middle school crew was performing closer to home with an appearance at a special Black History Month assembly at Circle Center Grade School in Yorkville.