About Us

High school drill teams began in Northwest ISD in 1980 when the Sidekicks Drill Team was formed at Northwest High School. Since then the Sidekicks have grown and evolved from a small-town dance team. In fact, the Sidekicks grew so much that Heather Sponsel, our current Sidekicks director, created a JV squad in 2008. With the addition of Byron Nelson and Eaton High Schools to the district, two new teams began - the Byron Nelson Bobcat Dazzlers and Eaton Sapphires.

Neighboring districts began advertising their middle school dance programs in 2017, prompting JV Sidekicks director Leila Romeo to pursue starting our own team in NISD. Following Dr. Lacefield's approval, we discussed a team name, colors, practice times, uniform fees, and other information to get the ball rolling. Once we were set, we had a walk-on team of over 100 members, all of whom signed up to be a part of our team within three days of the initial announcement! We culminated this first successful year with a district-wide dance showcase, a yearly tradition to this day.

After five years of the Northwest ISD middle school dance team, our fine arts department saw a need for three feeder middle school teams to cater to each high school campus. This allows directors to tailor these three teams for true preparation for the high school drill teams through tradition, training, and dance technique. We are thrilled to welcome our first year of the Texanettes, Northwest High School's own middle school feeder dance team!