Feature by Tyler Bay, Athletic Communications Assistant, QC Class of 2015
Was it all worth it? The sitting through practice, constantly observing her teammates practice the routines they would then perform later on in competition. Being on the team yet not feeling a real part of it.
"I was pretty much the waterboy," Knights' senior Robyn Cascio says now of the time just over two years ago when she first made the Queens College dance team. Having played soccer and volleyball throughout high school, Cascio was shocked when she received the call from then-assistant coach for the Knights, Alanna Cermeli, telling her she made the team. Fast-forward to now and Cascio is newly a member of the New York Cosmos Girls, a professional dance team associated with the Cosmos soccer franchise in Long Island.
"Alanna kept telling me about my 'potential,'" Cascio says about her initial audition and selection for the Knights. "Then when she told me I made the team, I asked her if she had the wrong number!"
It certainly seems as if Cermeli and Knights' head coach Shawn Garnier were on to something. It has not been an easy ride for Cascio, or as she puts it these last few years have been "nothing but eating, sleeping and breathing dance, fitness and nutrition," but her talent and skill level have progressed at such an astonishing rate that she has already joined the professional ranks.
"Literally the best moment of my life," Cascio says of when she was among the final 12 girls selected to make the team in February. "Felt like all my wishes and dreams came true.
"I know I'm exactly where I want to be."
As hard as it was to improve to the level where she could even consider dancing professionally, the auditioning process for the Cosmos was extremely challenging and competitive. First Cascio had to be attentive and impressionable enough to pick up on all of the routines she would have to later perform during the first week of clinic training. This is where her early experience with the Knights gave her a distinct advantage; Cascio was able to observe what she had to do and adapt accordingly. So much so that Cascio progressed through each round of auditions, surviving fatal cuts every Saturday in February until she was among the 12 girls remaining.
Making the accomplishment that much sweeter for Cascio was her good friend, former teammate and now current assistant coach for the Knights' dance team, Danielle Micciantuono, earning a spot on the Cosmos team as well. This will be Micciantuono's second consecutive year with the Cosmos Girls, and Cascio says she owes a lot to her best friend for getting to where she is now.
"She's always been there to give me solid advice," she says. "We work so well together, motivating each other. Whether it's meeting up in the gym at 6:00am or giving each other constant feedback.
"Making the team with Danielle, it's just so amazing."
