FULTON, Mo. - Alongside the debut of football, William Woods University announced the addition of competitive dance to its roster of NAIA sports today. The team will begin competition in the fall of 2024, with Director of Owl Spirit Toni Snyder named head coach by Director of Athletics Steve Wilson.

"Competitive dance adds so much to a campus," said Wilson. "In addition to a fast-paced, entertaining, and competitive sport, dance teams are a vital part of the gameday experience throughout the athletic department. These student-athletes are usually some of your very best campus ambassadors, and their presence adds to an already robust, wholistic collegiate athletics experience for the entire institution."

The dance team will compete under the umbrella of the Owls Spirit program, with Snyder bringing several years of experience as both a student-athlete and collegiate coach to the team. Snyder competed with McPherson College in the KCAC and has served as a traveling staff coach for UCA in addition to mentoring three All-KCAC student-athletes at Kansas Wesleyan, helping KWU cheer improve 20 spots in the NAIA ranks in his first year as head coach.

"With the addition of football, band, and competitive cheerleading, it was obvious in my eyes that competitive dance would be the next step in taking our Spirit Programs to the next level," said Snyder "Our gameday environment has already improved tremendously with the introduction of competitive cheerleaders on the campus, and competitive dance will only add to the energy and spirit that is being produced within our community, and help us create an environment on campus that is so hard to find anywhere else! I'm extremely excited to continue to build our Spirit Programs at the Woods!"

In addition to competing in 5-6 meets annually, the Owls dance team will perform at halftime of football, basketball and select other contests throughout the year. Snyder will begin recruiting immediately for the team, and interested student-athletes can reach out via email (toni.snyder@williamwoods.edu) or fill out a Prospective Student-Athlete form on WWU's athletics website.