Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The CAA Tournament is taking place in Washington, DC this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD will be covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our series with Hofstra dance team captain Marissa Cannella as she talked about her post-graduate plan and how proud she is of the Pride.
You grew up in New York: what made you choose Hofstra? I am from Wantagh on Long Island and knew that I wanted to stay close to home. I started following Hofstra on Instagram as a junior in high school and once I made the team it made my decision really easy.
You graduate in a couple of months: what is your post-graduation plan? Earlier this week I got accepted into the speech pathology graduate program at Hofstra, which is a 2-year Masters’ degree.
What was the atmosphere like on campus this week now that Hofstra is the top seed in the conference tourney? The atmosphere has been great: everyone is excited to see how the team does in DC. We hope they can win it all because they deserve it.
How did you 1st get into dancing, and what is the best part of being on the dance team? I have been dancing since age 2 and it has been a part of my life ever since then. When I came to a few clinics here and saw how intense the environment was it made me want to improve. Being on the team for the past 4 years has impacted me so much: I do not know where I would be without my teammates/coaches.
Will we see your group doing anything extra-special for the CAA Tournament this weekend? Our 1st game is on Sunday, where we will perform 1 of our routines, and if we keep winning then we will keep supporting the team by cheering from the sideline.
What do you think the role of a college dance team is today, and how has it changed over time? We attend many events on campus and are a big presence at Hofstra. We have been to many sporting events and have had a huge impact at events for our new students. I think that college dance these days is huge due to the national competition every January in Florida, which is a great experience. We just had alumni day and there were some women from the 1980s who told us about the dance competitions on campus that they used to participate in.
How does your school decide who gets to go to DC, and what does it mean to you to see your group doing their thing in front of a national TV audience? This year it was based on seniority: the more years you have on the team, the higher priority you get to travel. We have 10 dancers going to DC: 1 freshman and the rest are a mix of sophomores/juniors/seniors. It is a huge opportunity for both us and the basketball team so we are all excited.
What has been your favorite moment so far this season: beating UCLA, winning 9 of your last 10 games, Senior Night, other? The Senior Game last week was really good. The atmosphere at home games has been great all year long: there have been many sell-outs with all of our fans going crazy.
Hofstra has not made the NCAA tourney since 2001: how big a deal would it be if this is the year that you break the streak? It would be a huge deal so the university would go crazy! So many of us on the dance team would like to go but our coach told us that only 6 of us can go to DC. I hope they make it to the NCAA tourney.
Any predictions for this weekend? Hofstra is in 1st place so I think they can just play their game, take it 1 game at a time, and then win the championship!