Pacemates compete to make team ahead of upcoming season

INDIANAPOLIS -- What does it take to be a part of the Pacers Organization?




A group of hopefuls is figuring that out for themselves as auditions for the upcoming season of the Indiana Pacemates are underway. On Thursday night, the final team will be chosen.




Gainbridge Fieldhouse is once again filled with angst and aspiration as the final group of young women compete to represent the Pacers brand on center court on game days.




"It has been a lot of preparing. A lot of physical and mental preparing," said Kortney C., auditioning with hopes of starting her rookie year. Kortney received a Golden Ticket this year from Pacemates coach Michelle Duggan. The Golden Ticket allows a person to attend the workshops and tryouts at no cost. It's a recognition many can only hope for.




"This process has been quite the journey. It has been so exciting, and so fun," said Allie D., who is auditioning for Pacemates for the first time. "It has honestly been even more fun than I thought."




This year, veterans of the team say the stakes feel higher.




"It feels different also because we have so many eyes on us now after having such a historic season last season. It feels like more people are watching us," says Libby H., a veteran Pacemate auditioning for her fourth season with the team.




Interest in the team is up. More than 100 people registered for tryouts.




"We will choose finalists at the end of tonight. They will go through an interview process, a photoshoot, training camp where they will learn more choreography, see how they can retain, how they can take feedback, how they can implement changes," said Michelle Duggan, the director of entertainment teams with Pacers Sports and Entertainment.




The finalists can't help but imagine what it would be like to perform in front of a sold-out crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.




"It is just so surreal. It is everything that I have dreamed of my whole entire life, and now that it is here, I don't know, someone should pinch me because it really actually feels like I am dreaming," said Allie D. 




Some unfortunate news for the rookies, the butterflies you feel on day one of auditions, they don't really ever go away. The veterans say that it is for the best.




"I actually think they get worse the longer you are on the team because you've experienced everything and just know there is so much to lose," says Savannah B., a Pacemate veteran auditioning for her fifth season.




The 10-day process of meticulously piecing this team together tests a person's body, mind, perseverance and strength. That's by design.




Duggan has been with the Pacers organization for more than 20 years, starting as a Pacemate in 2001 before taking over as coach. Being part of the Pacemate family means something to her.




"We can work on the kicks and we can work on the sharpness and we can work on the musicality, but the sisterhood and the family part of it, I just have to make sure I am choosing wisely." 




For Duggan, the hardest part of the audition process is driving to finals night, where she has to make the decision of who makes it and who goes home. This year, the team had four women retire. The final team will be chosen and announced on Thursday.





via: https://fox59.com/indiana-news/pacemates-compete-to-make-team-ahead-of-upcoming-season/