UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Sparks are gearing up for another WNBA season. The Sparks host the Connecticut Sun in their home opener on May 31.
If you go to a Sparks home game, don't expect anything less than an all-out dance party. But in a city full of entertainers, what does it take to make a dance team for a pro sports franchise ?
To find out, we attended the final rounds of auditions to make the Sparks in-game dance crew.
To clarify, it’s not just one dance team. There are three of them, including the Ole Skool Crew, a squad exclusively for dancers over 40 years old.
Nobody knows this audition process better than 62-year-old Virginia Watson.
Watson has danced her way around L.A. She was a USC Song Girl, a Lakers Girl, and has been dancing for the Sparks for the past eight seasons.
But no matter how many times she’s auditioned in her life, this process doesn’t ever seem to get any easier.
“I’m the oldest one in the crew, it’s my eighth year doing this, and it never gets any easier! I’m a nervous freakin’ wreck!” she said backstage.
No stress though. Watson knows she will dance at Staples Center once again when her name is called, announcing she's been chosen to be part the Ole Skool final team.
But the Ole Skool Crew isn’t the only thing jazzing up Sparks games.
The music, the mascot, Sparky, and two other dance crews are here for the celebration.
The Sparks Kids are young, but they’ve got moves that will make you get up and out of your seat trying to keep up.
Meanwhile, the Sparks Crew is a hard-hitting hip hop squad that's charged with going out to electrify the crowds during breaks in the basketball.